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ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN 

THE NATIONS OF EUROPE 

THE CAUSES AND ISSUES OF 

The Great War 



A GRAPHIC STORY OF 

The Nations Involved, their History and 
Former Wars, their Rulers and Leaders, 
their Armies and Navies, their Resources, the 
Reasons for Conflict and the Issues at Stake 



BY 

CHARLES MORRIS 

it 

Author of "Civilization: An Historical Review 
of Its Elements," "Our Naval Heroes," "World's 
Famous Orators," "Home Life in All Lands." etc. 



3IUuBlratpti 



Us 



Copyright 1914 
By L. T. MYERS 



OCT -5 1314 






» CI. A 3 8 061),) 



PREFACE 



The year 1914 will stand out prominently in future history as 
the date of the most stupendous war in the history of mankind. 
In its special character, also, it may come to be regarded as the 
most atrocious of all wars, at least of all fought by civilized nations. 
Flashing out suddenly like a bolt from the blue, unannounced, un- 
expected, unexplained, unprecedented in suddenness and enormity, 
it hurled nearly the whole of Europe within a week's time from a 
state of profound peace into one of continental war. The ringing 
of church bells was drowned by the roar of cannon, the voice of 
the dove of peace by the blare of the trump of war, and throughout 
the world ran a shudder of terror as these unwonted and ominous 
sounds greeted men's ears. 

But in looking back through history, tracing the course of 
events during the past century, following the footsteps of men in 
war and peace from that day of upheaval when medieval feudalism 
went down in disarray before the arms of the people in the French 
Revolution, some explanation of the great European war of 1914 
may be reached. Every event in history has its roots somewhere 
in earlier history, and we need but dig deep enough to find them. 

Such is the purpose of the present work. It proposes to lay 
down in a series of apposite chapters the story of the past century, 
beginning, in fact, rather more than a century ago with the meteoric 
career of Napoleon and seeking to show to what it led, and what 
effects it had upon the political evolution of mankind. The French 



2 PREFACE 

Revolution stood midway between two spheres of history, the sphere 
of medieval barbarism and that of modern enlightenment. It 
exploded like a bomb in the midst of the self-satisfied aristocracy 
of the earlier social system and rent it into fragments which no hand 
could put together again. In this sense the career of Napoleon 
seems providential. The era of popular government had replaced 
that of autocratic and aristocratic government in France, and the 
armies of Napoleon spread these radical ideas throughout Europe 
until the oppressed people of every nation began to look upward 
with hope and see in the distance before them a haven of justice 
in the coining realm of human rights. 

These new conceptions took time to disseminate themselves. 
The oppressed peoples had to fight their way upward into the light, 
to win their progress step by step to the heights of emancipation. 
It was a hard struggle. Time and again they were cast downward 
in their climb. The powers of privilege, of the " divine right of 
kings," fought hard to preserve their ascendency, and only with 
discouraging slowness did the people move onward to the haven they 
so earnestly sought. 

The story of this upward progress is the history of the nine- 
teenth century, regarded from the special point of view of political 
progress and the development of human rights. This is definitely 
shown in the present work, which is a histor}^ of the past century 
and of the twentieth century so far as it has gone. Gradually 
the autocrat has declined in power and authority, and the principle 
of popular rights has risen into view. But the autocrat has not been 
fully dethroned. Medievalism still has its hold on a few of the 
thrones of Europe, notably those of Germany, Russia and Austria. 
Is the present war a final effort of medievalism to regain its hold, 
to put down the doctrine of popular rule and replace it bv the old 



PREFACE 3 

system of absolute government? This, at least, in the absence of 
apparent causes for the present war, may be offered as one conceiv- 
able explanation. If so, we can but hope that the prediction given 
at the end of this work may come true, and that the close of the war 
may witness the complete downfall of autocracy as a political 
principle and the rise of the rule of the people in every civilized 
nation of the earth. 

Charles Morris. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

All Europe Plunged into War PAGE 

Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak — Trade and Commerce Para- 
lyzed — Widespread Influences — Dilemma of the Tourists — An 
Ocean Incident — Closing the Stock Market — Terrible Effects 
of War— The Tide of Desolation— Who Caused the Conflict?— 
Cost of Modern Warfare 11 

CHAPTER II 

Underlying Causes of the Great European War 

Assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince — Austria's Motive in 
Making War — Servia Accepts Austria's Demand — The Ironies . 
of History — What Austria had to Gain — How the War Became 
Continental — An Editorial Opinion — Is the Kaiser Responsible?— 
Germany's Stake in the War — Why Russia Entered the War — 
France's Hatred of Germany — Great Britain and Italy — The 
Triple Alliance and Triple Entente 28 

CHAPTER III 

Strength and Resources of the Warring Powers 

Old and New Methods in War — Costs of Modern Warfare — Nature 
of National Resources — British and American Military Systems — 
Naval Strength — Resources of Austria-Hungary— Resources of 
Germany — Resources of Russia — Resources of France — Resources 
of Great Britain — Servia and Belgium 50 

CHAPTER IV 

Pan-Slavism Versus Pan-Germanism 

Russia's Part in the Servian Issue — Strength of the Russian Army — 
The Distribution of the Slavs — Origin of Pan-Slavism — The 
Czar's Proclamation — The Teutons of Europe — Intermingling of 
Races — The Nations at War — Spread of Teutonic Civilization — 

Views of German- Americans 70 

(5) 



PAGE 



6 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

Europe at the Close of the Eighteenth Century 

End of Medievalism and Beginning of Modernism 
Tlie Age of Feudalism — Issues of the French Revolution — How 
Napoleon Won Fame — Conditions in France and Germany — 
Austria and Italy — Spain and Poland — Russia and Turkey 83 

CHAPTER VI 
The Earthquake of Napoleonism 

Its Effect on National Conditions Finally Led to the War of 1914 
The Campaign in Italy — The Victory at Marengo — Moreau Wins 
Glory at Hohenlinden — Napoleon the Idol of France — The Consul 
made Emperor — The Code Napoleon — Campaign of 1805 — 
Battle of Austerlitz — The Gains of the Empire — The Conquest 
of Prussia — Invasion of Poland — Victory at Eylau — Russian 
Defeat at Friedland — Campaign of 1809 — Great Battles around 
Vienna — Victory at Wagram — The Divorce of Josephine 92 

CHAPTER VII 
Nelson and Wellington, the Champions of Britain 

End of the European Reign of Terror 
The Battle of the Nile — Nelson at Copenhagen — Defeat of the Danes — 
Nelson at Trafalgar — Nelson Wins and Dies — The Campaign in 
Portugal — Oporto and Talavera — The French Driven from Portu- 
gal — Wellington in Spain — Madrid Occupied 121 

CHAPTER VIII 
The Decline and Fall of Napoleon's Empire 

Dawn of a New Era in Europe 
The Kings and People of Spain — French Defeated and Napoleon in 
Command — The Triumph of Wellington — Napoleon's Fatal Enter- 
prise — The Grand Army in Russia — Smolensk on Fire — The Fight 
at Borodino— Moscow Occupied by the French— The Terror 
of Flame — Napoleon's Dread Dilemma — Winter in Full Fury — 
The Remnant of the Grand Army — Europe Rises Against the 
Corsican — The Empire Goes to Pieces — Napoleon Exiled to 
Elba — End of Napoleon's Career 138 



CONTENTS 7 

CHAPTER IX 
The Congress of Vienna 
Radical Changes in the Map of Europe page 

Map Making — Empire Building — Membership of the Congress — 
Reaction the Order of the Day — Brief Summary of Changes — Ex- 
cesses of the Congress — Confederation of the Rhine — How Other 
Countries Fared— Character of the Work done— The Rights of 
the People 157 

CHAPTER X 
The Holy Alliance and Its Unholy Work 

Events Leading to the Monroe Doctrine and the Foreign Policy 
of the United States. 

Significance of the Name — A Dangerous Doctrine — Revolution in 
Spain and Naples — Work of the Holy Alliance in Italy — The 
Spanish Revolt put down — The Allies gain Freedom for Greece — 
Liberty for Spanish-America — The Birth of the Monroe Doctrine. 168 

CHAPTER XI 
The Revolution of 1830 

Its Disintegrating Effect on National Conditions 
Reaction under Charles X — "Down with the Bourbons" — Louis 
Philippe on the Throne — Holland and Belgimn Divide — Popular 
Movements in Germany and Italy — Poland in Arms — Prosperity 
in Great Britain — An Intolerable Situation — Representation in 
Parliament — Lord Russell's Great Speech — Effect of the 1830 
Revolution — The Struggle for Reform — How Suffrage was 
Gained — The Corn-Laws Repealed 179 

CHAPTER XII 

Europe in Arms in 1848 

Outbreak of Nineteenth Century Democracy 

Liberty, Equality and Fraternity — Reform Outbreak in Paris — A 

Republic Founded — Revolt in Germany and Austria — The Met- 

ternich Policy Fails — The Struggle in Vienna and Berlin — A 

Federal Empire in Germany — Italy Strikes for Freedom — A 

French Army Occupies Rome — The Hungarian Revolution — 

Kossuth and the Magyars — How the Conflict Ended 195 



8 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIII 
Russia and the Crimean War 

Outcome of Slavic Ambitions in the Near East PASa 

Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe — Oppression of the Christians — 
England and France Declare War — Invasion of the Crimea — The 
Siege of Sebastopol — Charge of the Light Brigade — The Gallant 
Six Hundred — Tennyson's Famous Poem — Sebastopol Taken — 
The Treaty of Paris 207 

CHAPTER XIV 
The Ambition of Louis Napoleon 

The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism 

The Coup d'etat of 1851 — From President to Emperor — The Empire 
is Peace — War With Austria — The Battle of Magenta — Posses- 
sion of Lombardy — French Victory at Solferino — Treaty of Peace 
— Invasion of Mexico — End of Napoleon's Career 219 

CHAPTER XV 

Garibaldi and Italian Unity 

Power of Austria Broken 

The Carbonari — Mazzini and Garibaldi — Cavour, the Statesman — 
The Invasion of Sicily — Occupation of Naples — Victor Emmanuel 
Takes Command — Watchword of the Patriots — Garibaldi 
Marches Against Rome — Battle of Ironclads — Final Act of 
Italian Unity 235 

CHAPTER XVI 
The Expansion of Germany 

Beginning of Modern World Power 

William I of Prussia — Bismarck's Early Career — The Schleswig- 
Holstein Question — Conquest of the Duchies — Bismarck's Wider 
Views — War Forced on Austria — The War in Italy — Austria's 
Signal Defeat at Sadowa — The Treaty of Prague — Germany after 
1866 248 



CONTENTS 9 

CHAPTER XVII 
The Franco-Prussian War 

Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic paqe 
Causes of Hostile Relations — Discontent in France — War with 
Prussia Declared — Self-deception of the French — First Meeting 
of the Armies — The Stronghold of Metz — Mars-la-Tour and 
Gravelotte — Napoleon III at Sedan — The Emperor a Captive; 
France a Republic — Bismarck Refuses Intervention — Fall of the 
Fortresses — Gambetta in Command — Defiant Spirit of the 
French — The Struggle Continued — Operations Before Paris — 
Fighting in the South— The War at an End 262 

CHAPTER XVIII 
Bismarck and the New German Empire 

Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth-Century Nation 
Bismarck as a Statesman — Uniting the German States — William I 
Crowned at Versailles — A Significant Decade — The Problem 
of Church Power — Progress of Socialism — William II and the 
Resignation of Bismarck — Old Age Insurance — Political and 
Industrial Conditions in Germany 292 

CHAPTER XIX 
Gladstone as an Apostle of Reform 

Great Britain Becomes a World Power 
Gladstone and Disraeli — Gladstone's Famous Budget — A Suffrage Re- 
form Bill — Disraeli's Reform Measure — Irish Church Disestablish- 
ment — An Irish Land Bill — Desperate State of Ireland — The 
Coercion Bill — War in Africa — Home Rule for Ireland 303 

CHAPTER XX 
The French Republic 

Struggles of a New Nation 
The Republic Organized — The Commune of Paris — Instability of the 
Government — Thiers Proclaimed President — Punishment of the 
Unsuccessful Generals — McMahon a Royalist President — 
Bazaine's Sentence, and Escape— Grevy, Gambetta and Boulanger 
— Despotism of the Army Leaders — The Dreyfus Case — Church 
and State — The Moroccan Controversy : 316 



10 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XXI 

Great Britain and Her Colonies 

How England Became Mistress of the Seas page 

Great Britain as a Colonizing Power — Colonies in the Pacific Region — 
Colonization in Africa — British Colonies in Africa — The Mahdi 
Rebellion in Eygpt — Gordon at Khartoum — Suppression of the 
Mahdi Revolt — Colonization in Asia — The British in India — 
Colonies in America — Development of Canada— Railway Progress 
in Canada 333 

CHAPTER XXII 
The Open Door in China and Japan 

Development of World Power in the East 
Warlike Invasions of China — Commodore Perry and His Treaty — 
Japan's Rapid Progress — Origin of the China-Japan War — The 
Position of Korea — Li Hung Chang and the Empress — How Japan 
Began War — The Chinese and Japanese Fleets — The Battle of 
the Yalu — Preparing for Battle — How the Ships Fought — Perils 
of the Commanders — Capture of Wei-Hai-Wei — Europe Invades 
China — The Boxer Outbreak — Russian Designs on Manchuria — 
Japan Begins War on Russia — The Armies Meet — Port Arthur 
Taken — Russian Fleet Defeated — China Becomes a Republic. . . 348 

CHAPTER XXIII 
Turkey and the Balkan States 

Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe 
The Story of Servia — Turkey in Europe — The Bulgarian Horrors — The 
Defense of Plevna — The Congress of Berlin — Hostile Sentiments 
in the Balkans — Incitement to War — Fighting Begins — The 
Advance on Adrianople — Servian and Greek Victories — The 
Bulgarian Successes — Steps toward Peace — The War Resumed — 
Siege of Scutari — Treaty of Peace — War between the Allies — 
The Final Settlement 373 

CHAPTER XXIV 
Methods in Modern Warfare 

Ancient and Modern Weapons — New Types of Weapons — The Ironclad 
Warship — The Balloon in War — Tennyson's Foresight — Gunning 
after Airships — The Submarine — Under-water Warfare — The New 
Type of Battleship— Mobilization— The Waste of War— The 
End of Autocracy 391 




CHAPTER I 
All Europe Plunged Into War 

Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak — Trade and Commerce Paralyzed — Widespread 
Influences— Dilemma of the Tourists — An Ocean Incident — Closing the Stock Markets — 
Terrible Effects of War— The Tide of Desolation— Who Caused the Conflict?— Cost of 

Modern Warfare. 

^T the opening of the final week of July, 1914, the whole 
world— with the exception of Mexico, in which the smoul- 
dering embers of the revolution still burned — was in a 
state of profound peace. The clattering hammers and whirling 
wheels of industry were everywhere to be heard; great ships furrowed 
the ocean waves, deep-laden with the world's products and carrying 
thousands of travelers bent on business or enjoyment. Countless 
trains of cars, drawn by smoke-belching locomotives, traversed the 
long leagues of iron rails, similarly laden with passengers engaged 
in peaceful errands and freight intended for peaceful purposes. 
All seemed at rest so far as national hostile sentiments were con- 
cerned. All was in motion so far as useful industries demanded 
service. Europe, America, Asia and Africa alike had settled down 
as if to a long holiday from war, and the advocates of universal 
peace were jubilant over the progress of their cause, holding peace 
congresses and conferences at The Hague and elsewhere, and giving 
Nobel prizes of honor even to so questionable an advocate of peace 
as Theodore Roosevelt, the redoubtable Colonel of the Rough 
Riders. 

Such occasions occur at frequent intervals in nature, in which 
a deep calm, a profound peace, rests over land and sea. The winds 
are hushed, the waves at rest; only the needful processes of the 
universe are in action, while for the time the world forgets the 
chained demons of unrest and destruction. But too quickly the 
chains are loosened, the winds and waves set free; and the hostile 

(ID 



12 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

forces of nature rush over earth and sea, spreading terror and 
devastation in their path. Such energies of hostility are not con- 
fined to the elements. They exist in human communities. They 
underlie the political conditions of the nations, and their outbreak 
is at times as sudden and unlooked-for as that of the winds and waves. 
Such was the state of political affairs in Europe at the date men- 
tioned, apparently calm and restful, while below the surface hostile 
forces which had long been fomenting unseen were ready to burst 
forth and whelm the world. 

DRAMATIC SUDDENNESS OF THE OUTBREAK 

On the night of July 25th the people of the civilized world 
settled down to restful slumbers, with no dreams of the turmoil 
that was ready to burst forth. On the morning of the 26th they 
rose to learn that a great war had begun, a conflict the possible 
width and depth of which no man was yet able to foresee; and as 
day after day passed on, each day some new nation springing into 
the terrible arena until practically the whole of Europe was in 
arms and the Armageddon seemed at hand, the world stood amazed 
and astounded, wondering what hand had loosed so vast a catas- 
trophe, what deep and secret causes lay below the ostensible causes 
of the war. The causes of this are largely unknown. As a panic 
at times affects a vast assemblage, with no one aware of its origin, 
so a wave of hostile sentiment may sweep over vast communities 
until the air is full of urgent demands for war with scarce a man 
knowing why. 

What is already said only feebly outlines the state of con- 
sternation into which the world was cast in that fateful week in 
which the doors of the Temple of Janus, long closed, were sud- 
denly thrown wide open and the terrible God of War marched 
forth, the whole earth trembling beneath his feet. It was the 
breaking of a mighty storm in a placid sky, the fall of a meteor 
which spreads terror and destruction on all sides, the explosion 
of a vast bomb in a great assemblage; it was everything that can 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 13 

be imagined of the sudden and overwhelming, of the amazing and 
incredible. 

TRADE AND COMMERCE PARALYZED 

For the moment the world stood still, plunged into a panic 
that stopped all its activities. The chambers of finance through- 
out the nations were closed, to prevent that wild and hasty action 
which precipitates disaster. Throughout Europe trade, industry, 
commerce all ceased, paralyzed at their sources. No ship of any 
of the nations concerned dared venture from port, lest it should 
fall a prey to the prowling sea dogs of war which made all the 
oceans unsafe. The hosts of American tourists who had gone 
abroad under the sunny skies of peace suddenly beheld the dark 
clouds of war rolling overhead, blotting out the sun, and casting 
their black shadows over all things fair. 

What does this state of affairs, this sudden stoppage of the 
wheels of industry, this unforeseen and wide spread of the conditions 
of war portend? Emerson has said : "When a great thinker comes 
into the world all things are at risk." There is potency in this, 
and also in a variation of Emerson's text which we shall venture to 
make: "When a great war comes upon the world all things are at 
risk." Everything which we have looked upon as fixed and stable 
quakes as if from mighty hidden forces. The whole world stands 
irresolute and amazed. The steady-going habits and occupations 
of peace cease or are perilously threatened, and no one can be sure 
of escaping from some of the dire effects of the catastrophe. 

WIDESPREAD INFLUENCES 

The conditions of production vanish, to be replaced by condi- 
tions of destruction. That which had been growing in grace and 
beauty for years is overturned and destroyed in a moment of rav- 
age. Changes of this kind are not confined to the countries in 
which the war rages or the cities which conquering columns of troops 
occupy. They go beyond the borders of military activity; they 



14 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

extend to far-off quarters of the earth. We quote from the New 
York World a vivid picture drawn at the opening of the great 
European war. Its motto is "all the world is paying the cost of 
the folly of Europe." 

" Never before was war made so swiftly wide. News of it 
comes from Japan, from Porto Rico, from Africa, from places where 
in old days news of hostilities might not travel for months. 

" Non-combatants in Argentina face ruin from the stoppage of 
their wheat trade. Peru declares a moratorium. China will 
miss her ginseng from the Virginia mountains, and must otherwise 
make medicine. Rubber tires go soaring in price. Boots will do 
the same while shoemakers shoot each other, and the commerce 
in hides is halted. Children the world over will miss their Nurem- 
berg toys at Christmas. 

" Non-combatants are in the vast majority, even in the 
eountries at war, but they are not immune to its blight. Austria 
is isolated from the world because her ally, Germany, will take no 
chances of spilling military information and will not forward mails. 
If, telephoning in France, you use a single foreign word, even an 
English one, your wire is cut. Hans the German waiter, Franz the 
clarinettist in the little street band, is locked up as a possible spy. 
There are great German business houses in London and Paris; 
their condition is that of English and French business houses in 
Berlin, and that is not pleasant. Great Britain contemprates, as 
an act of war, the voiding of patents held by Germans in the United 
Kingdom. 

"Nothing is too petty, nothing too great, nothing too distant 
in kind or miles from the field of war to feel its influence. The 
whole world is the loser by it, whoever at the end of all the battles 
may say that he has won." 

DILEMMA OF THE TOURISTS 

Let us consider one of the early results of the war. It vitally 
affected great numbers of Americans, the army of tourists who had 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 15 

made their way abroad for rest, study and recreation and whose 
numbers, while unknown, were great, some estimating them at the 
high total of 100,000 or more. These, scattered over all sections 
of Europe, some with money in abundance, some with just enough 
for a brief journey, capitalists, teachers, students, all were caught 
in the sudden flurry of the war, their letters of credit useless, trans- 
portation difficult or impossible to obtain, all exposed to incon- 
veniences, some to indignities, some of them on the flimsiest pretence 
seized and searched as spies, the great mass of them thrown into a 
state of panic that added greatly to the unpleasantness of the 
situation in which they found themselves. 

While these conditions of panic gradually adjusted themselves, 
the status of the tourists continued difficult and annoying. The 
railroads were seized for the transportation of troops, leaving many 
Americans helplessly held in far interior parts, frequently without 
money or credit. One example of the difficulties encountered 
will serve as an instance which might be repeated a hundred 
fold. 

Seven hundred Americans from Geneva were made by Swiss 
troops to leave a tram. Many who refused were forced off at the 
point of guns. This compulsory removal took place at some 
distance from a station near the border, according to Mrs. Edward 
Collins, of New York, who with her three daughters was on the 
train. With 200 others they reached Paris and were taken aboard 
a French troop train. Most of the arrivals were women; the men 
were left behind because of lack of space. One hundred women 
refused to take the train without their husbands; scores struck 
back for Geneva; others on foot, carrying articles of baggage, 
started in the direction of Paris, hoping to get trains somewhere. 
Just why Swiss troops thus occupied themselves is not explained; 
but in times of warlike turmoil many unexplainable things occur. 
Here is an incident of a different kind, told by one of the escaping 
host: "I went into the restaurant car for lunch/' he said. "When I 
tried to return to the car where I'd left my suitcase, hat, cane and 



16 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

overcoat, I couldn't find it. Finally the conductor said blithely, 
'Oh, that car was taken off for the use of the army.' 

"I was forced to continue traveling coatless, hatless and minus 
my baggage until I boarded the steamer Flushing, when I managed 
to swipe a straw hat during the course of the Channel passage 
while the people were down eating in the saloon. I grabbed the 
first one on the hatrack. Talk about a romantic age. Why, I 
wouldn't live in any other time than now. We will be boring our 
grandchildren talking about this war." 

The scarcity of provisions in many localities and the with- 
holding of money by the banks made the situation, as regarded 
Americans, especially serious. Those fortunate enough to reach 
port without encountering these difficulties found the situation 
there equally embarrassing. The great German and English liners, 
for instance, were held up by order of the government, or feared 
to sail lest they should be taken captive by hostile cruisers. Many 
of these lay in port in New York, forbidden to sail for fear of capture. 
These included ships of the Cunard and International Marine 
lines, the North German Lloyd, the Hamburg-American, the 
Russian-American, and the French lines, until this port led the 
world in the congestion of great liners rendered inactive by the war 
situation abroad. The few that put to sea were utterly incapable 
of accommodating a tithe of the anxious and appealing applicants. 
It had ceased, in the state of panic that prevailed, to be a mere 
question of money. Frightened millionaires were credited with beg- 
ging for steerage berths. Everywhere was dread and confusion, men 
and women being in a state of mind past the limits of calm reason- 
ing. Impulse is the sole ruling force where reason has ceased to act. 

Slowly the skies cleared; calmer conditions began to prevail. 
The United States government sent the battleship Tennessee abroad 
with several millions of dollars for the aid of destitute travelers and 
the relief of those who could not get their letters of credit and trav- 
elers' checks cashed. Such a measure of relief was necessary, there 
being people abroad with letters of credit for as much as $5,000 






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ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 17 

without money enough to buy a meal. One tourist said: "I 
had to give a Milwaukee doctor, who had a letter of credit for $2,500, 
money today to get shaved." London hotels showed much consider- 
ation for the needs of travelers without ready cash, but on the 
continent there were many such who were refused hotel accom- 
modation. 

As for those who reached New York or other American ports, 
many had fled in such haste as to leave their baggage behind. 
Numbers of the poorer travelers had exhausted their scanty stores 
of cash in the effort to escape from Europe and reached port utterly 
penniless. The case was one that called for immediate and adequate 
solution and the governmental and moneyed interests on this side 
did their utmost to cope with the situation. Vessels of American 
register were too few to carry the host applying for transportation, 
and it was finally decided to charter foreign vessels for this purpose 
and thus hasten the work of moving the multitude of appealing 
tourists. From 15,000 to 20,000 of these needed immediate atten- 
tion, a majority of them being destitute. 

AN OCEAN INCIDENT 

Men and women needed not only transportation, but money 
also, and in this particular there is an interesting story to tell. 
The German steamer Kronprinzessin Cecilie, bound for Bremen, 
had sailed from New York before the outbreak of the war, carrying 
about 1,200 passengers and a precious freight of gold, valued at 
$10,700,000. The value of the vessel herself added $5,000,000 to 
this sum. What had become of her and her tempting cargo was for 
a time unknown. There were rumors that she had been captured 
by a British cruiser, but this had no better foundation than such 
rumors usually have. Her captain was alert to the situation, 
being informed by wireless of the sudden change from peace to war. 
One such message, received from an Irish wireless station, conveyed 
an order from the Bremen company for him to return with all haste 
to an American port. 

2 



18 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

It was on the evening of Friday, July 31st, that this order came. 
At once the vessel changed its course. One by one the ship's lights 
were put out. The decks which could not be made absolutely 
dark were enclosed with canvas. By midnight the ship was as 
dark as the sea surrounding. On she went through Saturday and 
on Sunday ran into a dense fog. Through this she rushed with un- 
checked speed and in utter silence, not a toot coming from her fog- 
horn. This was all very well as a measure of secrecy, but it opened 
the way to serious danger through a possible collision, and a com- 
mittee of passengers was formed to request the captain to reconsider 
his action. Just as the committee reached his room the first blast 
of the fog-horn was heard, its welcome tone bringing a sense of 
security where grave apprehension had prevailed. 

A group of financiers were on board who offered tojbuy the 
ship and sail her under American colors. ] But to all such proposals 
Captain Polack turned a deaf ear. He said that his duty was 
spelled by his orders from Bremen to turn back and save his ship, 
and these he proposed to obey. A passenger stated: 

" There were seven of the crew on watch all the time, two 
aloft. This enabled the captain to know of passing vessels before 
they came above the horizon. We were undoubtedly in danger 
on Sunday afternoon. We intercepted a wireless message in French 
in which two French cruisers were exchanging data in regard to 
their positions. 

"The captain told me that he imagined those to be two vessels 
who regularly patroled the fishing grounds in the interest of French 
fisheries. If the captain of either of those vessels should have come 
out of the fog and found us, his share of the prize in money might 
have amounted to $4,000,000. Did privateer ever dream of such 
booty! 

"Early on Saturday our four great funnels were given broad 
black bands in order to make us look like the Olympic, which was 
supposed to be twenty-four hours ahead of us. There was a 
certain grim humor in the fact that the wireless operator on the 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 19 

Olympic kept calling us all Friday night. Of course we did not 
answer." 

On Tuesday, August 4th, the great ship came within sight of 
land at the little village of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island, off 
the coast of Maine; a port scarce large enough to hold the giant 
liner that had sought safety in its waters. Wireless messages 
were at once flashed to all parts of the country and the news that the 
endangered vessel, with its precious cargo, was safe, was received 
with general relief. As regards the future movements of the ship 
Captain Polack said: 

"I can see no possibility of taking this ship to New York from 
here with safety. To avoid foreign vessels we should have to keep 
within the three-mile limit, and to accomplish this the ship would 
have to be built like a canoe. We have reached an American port 
in safety and that was more than I dared to hope. We have been 
in almost constant danger of capture, and we can consider ourselves 
extremely lucky to have come out so well. 

" I know I have been criticized for making too great speed under 
bad weather conditions, but I have not wilfully endangered the 
lives of the passengers. I would rather have lost the whole ship 
and cargo than have assumed any such risk. Of course, aside from 
this consideration, my one aim has been to save my ship and my 
cargo from capture. 

"I have not been acting on my own initiative, but under orders 
from the North German Lloyd in Bremen, and although I am an 
officer in the German navy my duty has been to the steamship 
line." 

CLOSING THE STOCK MARKETS 

We have so far dealt with only a few of the results of the war. 
There were various others of great moment, to some of which a 
passing allusion has been made. 

On July 30th, for the first time in history, the stock markets 
of the world were all closed at the same time. Heretofore when the 



20 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

European markets have been closed those on this side of the ocean 
remained open. The New York Exchange was the last big stock 
market to announce temporary suspension of business. The 
New York Cotton Exchange closed, following the announcement 
of the failure of several brokerage firms. Stock Exchanges through- 
out the United States followed the example set by New York. 
The Stock Exchanges in London and the big provincial cities, as 
well as those on the Continent, ceased business, owing to the break- 
down of the credit system, which was made complete by the 
postponement of the Paris settlement. 

Depositors stormed every bank in London for gold, and the 
runs continued until every bank was closed. In order to protect 
its dwindling gold supply the Bank of England raised its discount 
rate to 8 per cent. Leading bankers of London requested Premier 
Asquith to suspend the bank act, and he promised to lay the matter 
before the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In all the capitals of 
Europe financial transactions virtually came to a standstill. The 
slump in the market value of securities within the first week of the 
war flurry was estimated at $2,000,000,000, and radical measures 
were necessary to prevent hasty action while the condition of panic 
prevailed. 

This sudden stoppage of ordinary financial operations was 
accompanied by a similar cessation of the industries of peace over 
a wide range of territory. The artisan was forced to let fall the 
tools of his trade and take up those of war. The railroads were 
similarly denuded of their employees except in so far as they were 
needed to convey soldiers and military supplies. The customary 
uses of the railroad were largely suspended and travel went on under 
great difficulties. In a measure it had returned to the conditions 
existing before the invention of the locomotive. Even horse traffic 
was limited by the demands of the army for these animals, and foot 
travel regained some of its old ascendency. 

War makes business active in one direction and in one only, 
that of army and navy supply, of the manufacture of the imple- 




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ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 21 

ments of destruction, of vast quantities of explosives, of multitudes 
of death-dealing weapons. Food supplies need to be diverted in the 
same direction, the demands of the soldier being considered first, 
those of the home people last, the latter being often supplied at 
starvation prices. There is plenty of work to do — of its kind. But 
it is of a kind that injures instead of aiding the people of the nations. 

TERRIBLE EFFECTS OF WAR 

This individual source of misery and suffering in war times is 
accompanied by a more direct one, that of the main purpose of war 
— destruction of human life and of property that might be utilized 
by an enemy, frequently of merciless brigandage and devastation. 
It is horrible to think of the frightful suffering caused by every great 
battle. Immediate death on the field might reasonably be welcomed 
as an escape from the suffering arising from wounds, the terrible 
mutilations, the injuries that rankle throughout life, the conversion 
of hosts of able-bodied men into feeble invalids, to be kept by the 
direct aid of their fellows or the indirect aid of the people at large 
through a system of pensions. 

The physical sufferings of the soldiers from wounds and priva- 
tions are perhaps not the greatest. Side by side with them are the 
mental anxieties of their families at home, their terrible suspense, 
the effect upon them of tidings of the maiming or death of those 
dear to them or on whose labor they immediately depend. The 
harvest of misery arising from this cause it is impossible to estimate. 
It is not to be seen in the open. It dwells unseen in humble homes, 
in city, village, or field, borne often uncomplainingly, but not less 
poignant from this cause. The tears and terrors thus produced 
are beyond calculation. But while the glories of war are celebrated 
with blast of trumpet and roll of drum, the terrible accompaniment 
of groans of misery is too apt to pass unheard and die away for- 
gotten. 

To turn from this roll of horrors, there are costs of war in other 
directions to be considered. These include the ravage of cities 



22 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

by flame or pillage, the loss of splendid works of architecture, the 
irretrievable destruction of great productions of art, the vanishing 
of much on which the world had long set store, 

THE TIDE OF DESTRUCTION 

Not only on land, but at sea as well, the tide of destruction 
rises and swells. Huge warships, built at a cost of millions of 
dollars and tenanted by hundreds of hardy sailors, are torn and 
rent by shot and shell and at times sent to the bottom with all on 
board by the explosion of torpedoes beneath their unprotected 
lower hulls. The torpedo boat, the submarine, with other agencies 
of unseen destruction, have come into play to add enormously 
to the horrors of naval warfare, while the bomb-dropping airship, 
letting fall its dire missiles from the sky, has come to add to the 
dread terror and torment of the battle-field. 

We began this chapter with a statement of the startling sud- 
denness of this great war, and the widespread consequences 
which immediately followed. We have been led into a discussion 
of its issues, of the disturbing and distracting consequences which 
cannot fail to follow any great modern war between civilized nations. 
We had some examples of this on a small scale in the recent Balkan- 
Turkish war. But that was of minor importance and its effects, 
many of them sanguinary and horrible, were mainly confined to the 
region in which it occurred. But a war covering nearly a whole 
continent cannot be confined and circumscribed in its conse- 
quences. All the world must feel them in a measure — though 
diminishing with distance. The vast expanse of water which 
separates the United States from the European continent could not 
save its citizens from feeling certain ill effects from the struggle 
of war lords. America and Europe are tied together with many 
cords of business and interest, and the severing or weakening 
of these cannot fail to be seriously felt. Canada, at a similar 
width of removal from Europe, had reason to feel it still more 
seriously, from its close political relations with Great Britain and 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 23 

the ties of race and governmental conditions which intimately 
bind them. In fact, the war practically crossed the ocean and 
brought the Dominion of Canada within its reach. Many loyal 
Canadians stepped into the fray as an aid to the British cause. 

WHO CAUSED THE CONFLICT? 

Returning to the topic of the suddenness of the issue, which in 
less than a week plunged the five leading nations of Europe into 
internecine war, shall we seek to discover an adequate reason for this 
rapid plunge into the arena of conflict? It was much less a rising of 
people against people than of war lord against war lord. What had 
the great mass of the people to do with it, except to raise the idle 
cries of "Hoch der Kaiser," "On to Berlin," and the like popular 
mouthings! What had the men of wealth and business promi- 
nence to do with it? What the parliaments of the nations? The 
fact is patent that this vast, this inexcusable, war was primarly due 
to three men, three autocrats, three rulers of a type beyond which 
the civilized world has long since grown, bare surviving remnants 
of Roman imperialism and medieval tyranny. These three men 
were Francis Joseph of Austria, William II of Germany, Nicholas II 
of Russia, men who, when it came to a question of war, had but to 
raise their hand and the peoples under their rule were forced to 
respond. We are not here concerned with their motives, the secret 
ambitions or political considerations that moved them. What we 
are concerned with is the terrible fact that three men, in this age of 
national progress, still possessed the power to plunge a continent 
into carnage, cause the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of their 
subjects and the misery of the millions dependent upon them. In 
the words of Shakespeare, "It is not, and it cannot come to good." 
The conclusion of this passage from the great bard, "but break my 
heart, for I must hold my tongue," does not apply to the modern 
historical critic, since to hold his tongue is the very last thing that 
he would think of doing in such a crisis. 

It would have been but just, if those men were so eager for 



24 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

war, to have put them in the field themselves and let them decide 
the issue involved by a triple duel. If the whole three had fallen 
upon the field of glory the world would have closed over them 
almost without a ripple and all moved smoothly on. But to call 
vast armies into the field, to slaughter innocent men in myriads! 
that is another question. 

In this age of the world it is out of all reason for any one man 
to have such fearful power. It is not a matter here of ability 
to decide wisely upon great issues, but that of any single, fallible 
individual's possessing such power. If war is threatened it should 
be decided upon deliberately and calmly by a body of the seniors 
of the nation, not the self-chosen advisers of the emperor. It may 
be said, indeed, that in such a case a nation might be practically 
vanquished before it was ready to strike back at a more impulsive 
enemy. Yet France and Britain are governed by such bodies of 
seniors, and neither of them can well go to war without parliamen- 
tary approval. Yet in the present exigency such deliberations as 
were necessary caused no loss of time, and both were ready to strike 
back promptly when their interests and obligations were threatened. 

COST OF MODERN WARFARE 

Let us close this preliminary chapter with a consideration, not 
of the immediate effect of war, but of its final cost. In the end, 
after the storm has passed, the changes of territory, if any, are 
made, and industry has begun to revive, what remains? There 
is left a load of debt that for half a century or longer after the 
war will hang like a chain around the necks of the people, every 
man and woman of which will feel its constricting bonds. 

Here it is not the men who made the war that suffer. They 
have long been laid away in the cemetery, with statues significant 
of the " glory" of their career, anthems chanted to their memory. 
It is not they who must pay the cost. This falls upon the 
people, who are taxed through generations to meet the dead and 
past issue, and suffer a perennial privation in consequence. 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 25 

And in the days to which we have now come the cost of war is a 
giant to be reckoned with. With every increase in the size of 
cannon, the tonnage of warships, the destructiveness of weapons 
and ammunition, this element of cost grows proportionately greater 
and has in our day become stupendous. Nations may spend hi 
our era more cold cash in a day of war than would have served for a 
year in the famous days of chivalry. A study of this question 
was made by army and navy experts in 1914, and they decided 
that the expense to the five nations concerned in the European war 
would be not less than $50,000,000 a day. 

If we add to this the loss of untold numbers of young men in 
the prime of life, whose labor is needed in the fields and workshops 
of the nations involved, other bilhons of dollars must be added 
to the estimate, due to the crippling of industries. There is also the 
destruction of property to be considered, including the very costly 
modern battleships, this also footing up into the billions. 

When it is considered that in thirteen years the cost of main- 
tenance of the armies and navies of the warring countries, as well as 
the cost of naval construction, exceeded $20,000,000,000, some idea 
may be had of the expense attached to war and the preparations 
of European countries for just such contingencies as those that arose 
in Europe in 1914. The cost of the Panama Canal, one of the most 
useful aids to the commerce of the world, was approximately 
$375,000,000, but the expense of the preparations for war in Europe 
during the time it took to build the canal exceeded the cost of this 
gigantic undertaking nearly sixty to one. 

The money thus expended on preparation for war during the 
thirteen years named would, if spent in railroad and marine construc- 
tion, have given vast commercial power to these nations. To what 
extent have they been benefited by the rivalry to gain precedence in 
military power? They stand on practically the same basis now that 
it is all at an end. Would they not be on the same basis if it had 
never begun? Aside from this is the incentive to employ these vast 
armaments in the purpose for which they were designed, the effect 



26 ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

of creating a military spirit and developing a military caste in 
each by the nations, a result very likely to be productive of ill effects. 
The total expense of maintenance of armies and navies, together 
with the cost of construction in thirteen years, in Germany, Austria, 
Russia, France and Great Britain, was as follows: 

Naval expenditures $5,648,525,000 

Construction 2,146,765,000 

Cost of armies 13,138,403,000 

Total $20,933,693,000 

The wealth of the same nations in round figures is: 

Great Britain $80,000,000,000 

Germany 60,500,000,000 

Austria 25,000,000,000 

France 65,000,000,000 

Russia 40,000,000,000 

Total $270,500,000,000 

This enormous expense which was incurred in preparation for 
war needed to be rapidly increased to meet the expenses of actual 
warfare. The British House of Commons authorized war credits 
amounting to $1,025,000,000, while the German Reichstag voted 
$1,250,000,000. Austria and France had to set aside vast sums 
for their respective war chests. 

HALF CENTURY TO PAY DEBTS 

In anticipation of trouble Germany in 1913 voted $250,000,000 
for extraordinary war expenses and about $100,000,000 was spent 
on an aerial fleet. France spent $60,000,000 for the same purpose. 

The annual cost of maintaining the great armies and navies of 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 27 

Europe even on a peace basis is enormous, and it must be vastly 
increased during war. The official figures for 1913-14 are: 

British army $224,300,000 

British navy 224,140,000 

German army 183,090,000 

German navy 111,300,000 

French army 191,431,580 

French navy 119,571,400 

Russian army 317,800,000 

Russian navy 122,500,000 

Austrian army 82,300,000 

Austrian navy 42,000,000 

Total $1,618,432,980 

It was evident that taxes to meet the extraordinary expenses of 
war would have to be greatly increased in Germany and France. 
As business became at a standstill throughout Europe and every port 
of entry blocked, experts wondered where the money was to come 
from. All agreed that, when peace should be declared and the 
figures were all in, the result financially would be staggering and that 
the heaviest burden it had ever borne would rest upon Europe for 
fifty years to come. For when the roar of the cannon ceases and 
the nations are at rest, then dawns the era of payment, inevitable, 
unescapable, one in which for generations every man and woman 
must share. 




CHAPTER II 
Underlying Causes of the Great European War 

Assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince — Austria's Motive in Making War — Servia 
Accepts Austria's Demand — The Ironies of History — What Austria had to Gain — How 
the War Became Continental — An Editorial Opinion — Is the Kaiser Responsible? — 
Germany's Stake in the War — Why Russia Entered the Field — France's Hatred 
of Germany — Great Britain and Italy — The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente. 

'HAT brought on the mighty war which so suddenly 
sprang forth? What evident, what subtle, what deep- 
hidden causes led to this sudden demolition of the temple 
of peace? What pride of power, what lust of ambition, what desire 
of imperial dominion cast the armed hosts of the nations into the 
field of conflict, on which multitudes of innocent victims were to 
be sacrificed to the insatiate hunger for blood of the modern 
Moloch? 

Here are questions which few are capable of answering. Osten- 
sible answers may be given, surface causes, reasons of immediate 
potency. But no one will be willing to accept these as the 
true moving causes. For a continent to spring in a week's time 
from complete peace into almost universal war, with all the great 
and several of the small Powers involved, is not to be explained 
by an apothegm or embraced within the limits of a paragraph. If 
not all, certainly several of these nations had enmities to be un- 
chained, ambitions to be gratified, long-hidden purposes to be put in 
action. They seemed to have been awaiting an opportunity, and 
it came when the anger of the Servians at the seizure of Bosnia 
by Austria culminated in a mad act of assassination. 

ASSASSINATION OF THE AUSTRIAN CROWN PRINCE 

The immediate cause, so far as apparent to us, of the war in 
question was the murder, on June 29, 1914, of the Austrian Crown 

(28) 



3. 




UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 29 

Prince Francis Ferdinand and his wife, while on a visit to Sarajevo, 
the capital of Bosnia, the assassin being a Servian student, supposed 
to have come for that purpose from Belgrade, the Servian capital. 
The inspiring cause of this dastardly act was the feeling of hostility 
towards Austria which was widely entertained in Servia. Bosnia was 
a part of the ancient kingdom of Servia. The bulk of its people are 
of Slavic origin and speak the Servian language. Servia was eager to 
regain it, as a possible outlet for a border on the Mediterranean Sea. 
When, therefore, in 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
which had been under her military control since 1878, the indigna- 
tion in Servia was great. While it had died down in a measure 
in the subsequent years, the feeling of injury survived in many 
hearts, and there is little reason to doubt that the assassination of 
Archduke Ferdinand was a result of this pervading sentiment. 

In fact, the Austrian government was satisfied that the murder 
plot was hatched in Belgrade and held that Servian officials were in 
some way concerned in it. The Servian press gave some warrant 
for this, being openly boastful and defiant in its comments. When 
the Austrian consul-general at Belgrade dropped dead in the con- 
sulate the papers showed their satisfaction and hinted that he had 
been poisoned. This attitude of the press evidently was one of 
the reasons for the stringent demand made by Austria on July 23d, 
requiring apology and change of attitude from Servia and asking for 
a reply by the hour of 6 p. m. on the 25th. The demands were in 
part as follows: 

1. An apology by the Servian government in its official journal 
for all Pan-Servian propaganda and for the participation of Servian 
army officers in it, and warning all Servians in the future to desist 
from anti-Austrian demonstrations. 

2. That orders to this effect should be issued to the Servian army. 

3. That Servia should dissolve all societies capable of con- 
ducting intrigues against Austria. 

4. That Servia should curb the activities of the Servian press 
in regard to Austria. 



30 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

5. That Austrian officials should be permitted to conduct an 
inquiry in Servia independent of the Servian government into the 
Sarajevo plot. 

An answer to these demands was sent out at ten minutes before 
6 o'clock on the 25th, in which Servia accepted all demands except 
the last, which it did not deem "in accordance with international 
law and good neighborly relations." It asked that this demand 
should be submitted to The Hague Tribunal. The Austrian Minis- 
ter at Belgrade, Baron Giesl von Gieslingen, refused to accept this 
reply and at once left the capital with the entire staff of the legation. 
The die was cast, as Austria probably intended that it should be. 

Austria's motive in making war 

It had, in fact, become evident early in July that the military 
party in Austria was seeking to manufacture a popular demand for 
war, based on the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand and his 
wife. Such was the indication of the tone of the Vienna newspapers, 
which appeared desirous of working up a sentiment hostile to Servia. 
It may be doubted if the aged emperor was a party to this. Probably 
his assent was a forced one, due to the insistence of the war party 
and the public sentiment developed by it. That the murder of 
the Archduke was the real cause of the action of Austria can scarcely 
be accepted in view of Servia's acceptance of Austria's rigid demands. 
The actual cause was undoubtedly a deeper one, that of Austria's 
long-cherished purpose of gaining a foothold on the iEgean Sea, 
for which the possession of Servia was necessary as a preliminary 
step. A plausible motive was needed, any pretext that would serve 
as a satisfactory excuse to Europe for hostile action and that could 
at the same time be utilized in developing Austrian indignation 
against the Servians. Such a motive came in the act of assassination 
and immediate use was made of it. The Austrian war party 
contended that the deed was planned at Belgrade, that it had been 
fomented by Servian officials, and that these had supplied the 
murderer with explosives and aided in their transfer into Bosnia. 



UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 31 

What evidence Austria possessed leading to this opinion we 
do not know. While it is not likely that there was any actual 
evidence, the case was one that called for investigation, and Austria 
was plainly within its rights in demanding such an inquiry and due 
punishment of every one found to be connected with the tragic deed. 
But Austria went farther than this. It was willing to accept 
nothing less than a complete and humiliating submission on the 
part of Servia. And the impression was widely entertained, whether 
with or without cause, that in this Austria was not acting alone 
but that it had the full support of Germany. That country also 
may be supposed to have had its ends to gain. What these were we 
shall consider later. 

SERVIA ACCEPTS AUSTRIA'S DEMANDS 

Imperious as had been the demand of Austria, one which would 
never have been submitted to a Power of equal strength, Servia 
accepted it, expressing itself as willing to comply with all the con- 
ditions imposed except that relating to the participation of Aus- 
trian officials in the inquiry, an explanation being asked on this 
point. If this reply should be deemed inadequate, Servia stood 
ready to submit the question at issue to The Hague Peace Tribunal 
and to the Powers which had signed the declaration of 1909 relating 
to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

The subsequent action of Austria was significant. The Aus- 
trian Minister at Belgrade, as before stated, rejected it as unsatis- 
factory and immediately left the Servian capital. He acted, in short, 
with a precipitancy that indicated that he was acting under instruc- 
tions. This was made very evident by what immediately followed. 
When news came on July 28th that war had been declared and active 
hostilities commenced, it was accompanied by the statement that 
Austria would not now be satisfied even with a full acceptance of her 
demands. 

That the intention of this imperious demand and what quickly 
followed was to force a war, no one can doubt. Servia's nearly 



32 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

complete assent to the conditions imposed was declared to be not 
only unsatisfactory, but also " dishonorable," a word doubtless 
deliberately used. Evidently no door was to be left open for 
retrogressive consideration. 

THE IRONIES OF HISTORY 

It is one of the ironies of history that a people who once played 
a leading part in saving the Austrian capital from capture should 
come to be threatened by the armies of that capital. This takes 
us back to the era when Servia, a powerful empire of those days, 
fell under the dominion of the conquering Turks, whose armies 
further overran Hungary and besieged Vienna. Had this city been 
captured, all central Europe would have lain open to the barbarities 
of the Turks. In its defense the Servians played a leading part, 
so great a one that we are told by a Hungarian historian, "It was 
the Serb Bacich who saved Vienna." But in 1914 Servia was 
brought to the need of saving itself from Vienna. 

WHAT AUSTRIA HAD TO GAIN 

If it be asked what Austria had to gain by this act; what was 
her aim in forcing war upon a far weaker state; the answer is at hand. 
The Balkan States, of which Servia is a prominent member, lie in 
a direct line between Europe and the Orient. A great power 
occupying the whole of the Balkan peninsula would possess political 
advantages far beyond those enjoyed by Austria-Hungary. It 
would be in a position giving it great influence over, if not strategic 
control of, the Suez Canal, the commerce of the Mediterranean, 
and a considerable all-rail route between Central Europe and the 
far East. Salonika, on the iEgean Sea, now in Greek territory, 
is one of the finest harbors on the Mediterranean Sea. A railway 
through Servia now connects this port with Austria and Germany. 
In addition to this railway it is not unlikely that a canal may in 
the near future connect the Danube with the harbor of Salonika. 
If this project should be carried out, the commerce of the Danube 







BATTLE-GROUND OP EASTERN EUROPE 



34 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

and its tributary streams and canals, even that of central and western 
Germany, would be able to reach the Mediterranean without passing 
through the perilous Iron Gates of the Danube or being subjected 
to the delays and dangers incident to the long passage through the 
Black Sea and the Grecian Archipelago. 

We can see in all this a powerful motive for Austria to seek to 
gain possession of Servia, as a step towards possible future control 
of the whole Balkan peninsula. The commercial and manufactur- 
ing interests of Austria-Hungary were growing, and mastership of 
such a route to the Mediterranean would mean immense advantage 
to this ambitious empire. Possession of northern Italy once gave 
her the advantage of an important outlet to the Mediterranean. 
This, through events that will be spoken of in later chapters, was 
lost to her. She apparently then sought to reach it by a more 
direct and open road, that leading through Salonika. 

Such seem the reasons most likely to have been active in the 
Austrian assault upon Servia. The murder of an Austrian arch- 
duke by an insignificant assassin gave no sufficient warrant for the 
act. The whole movement of events indicates that Austria was 
not seeking retribution for a crime but seizing upon a pretext for 
a predetermined purpose and couching her demands upon Servia 
in terms which no self-respecting nation could accept without 
protest. Servia was to be put in a position from which she could 
not escape and every door of retreat against the arbitrament of war 
was closed against her. 

But in this retrospect we are dealing with Austria and Servia 
alone. What brought Germany, what brought France, what 
brought practically the whole of Europe into the struggle? What 
caused it to grow with startling suddenness from a minor into a 
major conflict, from a contest between a bulldog and a terrier into 
a battle between lions? What were the unseen and unnoted con- 
ditions that, within little more than a week's time, induced all the 
leading nations of Europe to cast down the gage of battle and spring 
full-armed into the arena, bent upon a struggle which threatened 



UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 35 

to surpass any that the world had ever seen? Certainly no trifling 
causes were here involved. Only great and far-reaching causes could 
have brought about such a catastrophe. All Europe appeared to be 
sitting, unknowingly or knowingly, upon a powder barrel which 
only needed some inconsequent hand to apply the match. It 
seems incredible that the mere pulling of a trigger by a Servian 
student and the slaughter of an archduke in the Bosnian capital 
could in a month's time have plunged all Europe into war. 
From small causes great events may rise. Certainly that with 
which we are here dealing strikingly illustrates this homely 
apothegm. 

HOW THE WAR BECAME CONTINENTAL 

We cannot hope to point out the varied causes which were 
at work in this vast event. Very possibly the leading ones are 
unknown to us. Yet some of the important ones are evident and 
may be made evident, and to these we must restrict ourselves. 

Allusion has already been made to the general belief that the 
Emperor of Germany was deeply concerned in it, and that Austria 
would not have acted as it did without assurance of support, in fact 
without direct instigation, from some strong allied Power, and this 
Power is adjudged alike by public and private opinion to have been 
Germany, acting in the person of its ambitious war lord, the 
dominating Kaiser. 

It may be stated that all the Powers concerned have sought to 
disclaim responsibility. Thus Servia called the world to witness that 
her answer to Austria was the limit of submission and conciliation. 
Austria, through her ambassador to the United States, solemnly 
declared that her assault upon Servia was a measure of " self- 
defense." Russia explained her action as "benevolent intervention," 
and expressed "a humble hope in omnipotent providence" that 
her hosts would be triumphant. Germany charged France with per- 
fidious attack upon the unarmed border of the fatherland, and 
proclaimed a holy war for "the security of her territory." France 



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UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 37 

and England, Belgium and Italy deplored the conflict and protested 
that they were innocent of offense. So far as all this is concerned 
the facts are generally held to point to Germany as the chief in- 
stigator of the war. 

Russia, indeed, had made threatening movements toward 
Austria as a warning to her to desist from her threatened invasion 
of Servia. Great Britain proposed mediation. Germany made 
no movement in the direction of preventing the war, but directed 
its attention to Russia, warning it to stop mobilization within 
twenty-four hours, and immediately afterward beginning a similar 
movement of mobilization in its own territory. On August 1st 
Germany declared war against Russia, the first step towards making 
the contest a continental one. On the 2d, when France began 
mobilization, German forces moved against Russia and France 
simultaneously and invaded the neutral states of Luxembourg and 
Belgium. It was her persistence in the latter movement that 
brought Great Britain into the contest, as this country was pledged 
to support Belgian neutrality. On August 4th, Great Britain 
sent an ultimatum to Germany to withdraw from the neutral 
territory which her troops had entered. Germany retorted by a 
declaration of war against Great Britain. This was issued at 7 p. m. 
Great Britain replied by a similar declaration at 11 p. m. 

AN EDITORIAL OPINION 

As regards the significance of these movements, in which 
Germany hurled declarations of war in rapid succession to east 
and west, and forced the issue of a continental war upon nations 
which had taken no decisive step, it may suffice to quote an editorial 
summing up of the situation as regards Germany, from the Phila- 
delphia North American of August 7th: 

"From these facts there is no escape. Leaving aside all ques- 
tions of justice or political expediency, the aggressor throughout 
has been Germany. Austria's fury over the assassination of the 
heir to the throne was natural. But Servia tendered full reparation. 



38 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

So keen and conservative an authority as Rear Admiral Mahan 
declares that 'the aggressive insolence' of Austria's ultimatum 
' and Servia's concession of all demands except those too humiliating 
for national self-respect' show that behind Austria's assault was 
the instigation of Berlin. He adds: 

" 'Knowing how the matter would be viewed in Russia, it is 
incredible that Austria would have ventured on the ultimatum unless 
assured beforehand of the consent of Germany. The inference is 
irresistible that it was the pretext for a war already determined upon 
as soon as plausible occasion offered.' 

"Circumstantial evidence, at least, places responsibility for the 
flinging of the first firebrand upon the government of the Kaiser. 
Now, who added fuel to the flames, until the great conflagration 
was under way? 

"The next move was the Czar's. 'Fraternal sentiments of the 
Russian people for the Slavs in Servia,' he says, led him to order 
partial mobilization, following Austria's invasion of Servia. In- 
stantly Germany protested, and within forty-eight hours sent an 
ultimatum demanding that Russia cease her preparations. On the 
following day Germany began mobilizing, and twenty-four hours 
later declared war on Russia. Mobilization in France, necessitated 
by these events, was anticipated by Germany, which simultaneously 
flung forces into Russia, France, Luxembourg and Belgium. 

"It was Germany's historic policy of 'blood and iron' that 
fired Austria to attempt the crushing of Servia. It was Germany 
that hurled an ultimatum, swiftly followed by an army, at Russia. 
It was Germany that struck first at the French frontier. It was 
Germany that trampled upon solemn treaty engagements by 
invading the neutral states of Luxembourg and Belgium. And it 
was Germany that, in answer to England's demand that the neutral- 
ity of Belgium be protected, declared war against Great Britain. 

"Regardless, therefore, of questions of right and wrong, it is 
undeniable that in each succeeding crisis Germany has taken the 
aggressive. In so doing she has been inspired by a supreme confi- 



UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 39 

dence in her military might. But she has less reason to be proud of 
her diplomacy. The splendid audacity of her moves cannot obscure 
the fact that in making the case upon which she will be judged 
she has been outmaneuvered by the deliberation of Russia, the for- 
bearance of France and the patience of Great Britain. She has 
assumed the role of international autocrat, while giving her foes 
the advantage of prosecuting a patriotic war of defense. 

"Particularly is this true touching the violation of neutral 
territory. For nearly half a century the duchy of Luxembourg 
has been considered a 'perpetually neutral state,' under solemn 
guarantee of Austria, Great Britain, Germany and Russia. Since 
1830, when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, it, too, has been 
held 'an independent and perpetually neutral state,' that status 
being solemnly declared in a convention signed by Great Britain, 
France, Russia, Austria and Prussia. Yet the first war move of 
Germany was to overrun these countries, seize their railroads, 
bombard their cities and lay waste their territories. 

"For forty years Germany has been the exemplar of a progres- 
sive civilization. In spite of her adherence to inflated militarism, 
she has put the whole world in her debt by her inspiring industrial 
and scientific achievements. Her people have taught mankind 
lessons of incalculable value, and her sons have enriched far distant 
lands with their genius. Not the least of the catastrophes inflicted 
by this inhuman war is that an unbridled autocracy has brought 
against the great German empire an indictment for arrogant assault 
upon the peace of nations and the security of human institutions." 

IS THE KAISERlRESPONSIBLE? 

How, much reliance is to be placed on the foregoing newspaper 
opinion, and on the prevailing sentiment holding Kaiser Wilhelm 
responsible for flinging the war bomb that disrupted the ranks 
of peace, no one can say. Every one naturally looked for the 
fomenter of this frightful international conflict and was disposed to 
place the blame on the basis of rumor and personal feeling. On 



40 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

the other hand each nation concerned has vigorously disclaimed 
responsibility for the cataclysm. Austria — very meekly — claimed 
that Servia precipitated the conflict. Germany blamed it upon 
Russia and France, the former from Slavic race sentiment, the 
latter from enmity that had existed since the loss of Alsace and 
Lorraine in 1870. They, on the contrary, laid all the blame upon 
Germany. In the case of England alone we have a clear vista. 
The obligation of the island kingdom to maintain the neutral 
position of Belgium and the utter disregard of this neutrality by 
Germany forced her to take part and throw her armies into the field 
for the preservation of her international obligations. 

Many opinions were extant, many views advanced. One of 
these, from Robert C. Long, a war correspondent of note, laid the 
total responsibility upon Austria, which, he said, plunged Europe 
into war in disregard of the Kaiser, who vigorously sought to pre- 
vent the outbreak, even threatening his ally in his efforts to preserve 
peace. In his view, "All the blood-guiltiness in this war will rest 
upon two Powers, Austria and Russia. It rests on Austria for her 
undue harshness to Servia and on Russia for its dishonesty in secretly 
mobilizing its entire army at a time when it was imploring the 
Kaiser to intervene for peace, and when the Kaiser was working for 
peace with every prospect of success." 

We have quoted one editorial opinion holding Germany wholly 
responsible. Here is another, from the New York Times, which, 
with a fair degree of justice, distributes the responsibility among 
all the warring nations of Europe: 

"Germany is not responsible; Russia is not responsible, or 
Austria, or France, or England. The pillars of civilization are 
undermined and human aspirations bludgeoned down by no Power, 
but by all Powers; by no autocrats, but by all autocrats; not 
because this one or that has erred or dared or dreamed or swaggered, 
but because all, in a mad stampede for armament, trade and terri- 
tory, have sowed swords and guns, nourished harvests of death- 
dealing crops, made ready the way. 



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UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 41 

"For what reason other than war have billions in bonds and 
taxes been clamped on the backs of all Europe? None sought to 
evade war; each sought to be prepared to triumph when it came. 
At most some chancelleries whispered for delay, postponement; 
they knew the clash to be inevitable; if not today, tomorrow. 
Avoid war! What else have they lived for, what else prepared for, 
what else have they inculcated in the mind of youth than the sure- 
ness of the conflict and the great glory of offering themselves to 
this Moloch in sacrifice? 

"No Power involved can cover up the stain. It is indelible, 
the sin of all Europe. It could have been prevented by common 
agreement. There was no wish to prevent it. Munition manufac- 
turers were not alone in urging the race to destruction, physical 
and financial. The leaders were for it. It was policy. A boiling 
pot will boil, a nurtured seed will grow. There was no escape from 
the avowed goal. A slow drift to the inevitable, a thunderbolt 
forged, the awful push toward the vortex! What men and nations 
want they get." 

Germany's stake in the war 

What had Germany to gain in the war in the instigation of which 
she is charged with being so deeply involved? Territorial aggran- 
dizement may have been one of her purposes. Belgium and Holland 
lay between her and the open Atlantic, and the possession of these 
countries, with their splendid ports, would pay her well for a reason- 
able degree of risk and cost. The invasion of Belgium as her first 
move in the war game may have had an ulterior purpose in the 
acquisition of that country, one likely to be as distasteful to France 
as the taking over of Alsace-Lorraine. Perhaps the neutral position 
taken by Holland, with her seeming inclination in favor of Germany, 
may have had more than racial relations behind it. Considerations 
of ultimate safety from annexation may have had its share in this 
attitude of neutrality. 

The general impression has been that Germany went to war 



42 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

with the purpose of establishing beyond question her political and 
military supremacy on the European continent. Military despot- 
ism in Germany was the decisive factor in making inevitable the 
general war. The Emperor of Germany stood as the incarnation and 
exponent of the Prussian policy of military autocracy. He had 
ruled all German States in unwavering obedience to the militarist 
maxim: "In times of peace prepare for war." He had used to the 
full his autocratic power in building up the German Empire and in 
making it not only a marvel of industrial efficiency, but also a stu- 
pendous military machine. In this effort he had burdened the 
people of Germany with an ever-increasing war budget. The limit 
in this direction was reached with the war budget of the year 1912, 
when the revenues of the princes and of all citizens of wealth were 
specially taxed. No new sources of revenue remained. A crisis 
had come. 

That crisis, from Germany's point of view, was not any 
menace from Britain or any fear of the British power. It was 
rather the very real and very rapidly rising menace of the new 
great Slav power on Germany's border, including, as it did, the 
Russian Empire and the entire line of Slav countries that encircled 
Germanic Austria from the Adriatic to Bohemia. These Slav 
peoples are separated from the governing Teutonic race in the 
Austrian Empire by the gulfs of blood, language, and religion. 
And in Europe the Slav population very largely outnumbers the 
Teuton population. 

Recent events, especially in the Balkan wars, had made it 
plain, not to the German Emperor alone, but to all the world, 
that the growth into an organized power of more than two hundred 
millions of Slav peoples along nearly three thousand miles of inter- 
national frontier was a menace to the preservation of Teuton 
supremacy in Europe. That Teuton supremacy was based 
on the sword. The German Emperor's appeal was to "My 
sword." But when the new sword of the united Slav power 
was allowed to be unsheathed, German supremacy was 



UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 43 

threatened on its own ground and by the weapon of its own 
choosing. 

However all this be, and it must be admitted that it is to a 
degree speculative, there were in 1914 conditions existing that 
appeared to render the time a suitable one for the seemingly 
inevitable continental war. Revelations pointing to defects 
in the French army, deficiencies of equipment and weaknesses in 
artillery, had been made in the French Parliament. The debate that 
occurred was fully dwelt upon in the German papers. And on 
July 16th the organ of Berlin radicalism, the Vossische Zeitung, 
published a leading article to show that Russia was not prepared 
for war, and never had been. As for France, it said: "A Gallic 
cock with a lame wing is not the ideal set up by the Russians. 
And when the Russian eagle boasts of being in the best of health 
who is to believe him? Why should the French place greater con- 
fidence in the inveterate Russian disorganization than in their own 
defective organization?" 

As regards the Kaiser's own estimate of his preparedness for 
war, and the views of national polity he entertained, we shall let 
him speak for himself in the following extracts from former utter- 
ances: 

"We will be everywhere victorious even if we are surrounded 
by enemies on all sides and even if we have to fight superior num- 
bers, for our most powerful ally is God above, who, since the time 
of the Great Elector and Great King, has always been on our side." 
—At Berlin, March 29, 1901. 

"I vowed never to strike for world mastery. The world 
empire that I then dreamed of was to create for the German empire 
on all sides the most absolute confidence as a quiet, honest and 
peaceable neighbor. I have vowed that if ever the time came 
when history should speak of a German world power or a Hohen- 
zollern world power this should not be based on conquest, 
but come through a mutual striving of nations after a common 
purpose. 



44 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

"After much has been done internally in a military way, the 
next thing must be the arming ourselves at sea. Every German 
battleship is a new guarantee for the peace of the world. We 
are the salt of the earth, but must prove worthy of being so, 
Therefore our youth must learn to deny what is not good for them. 

"With all my heart I hope that golden peace will continue 
to be present with us." — At Bremen, March 22, 1905. 

"My first and last care is tor my fighting forces on land and 
sea. May God grant that war may not come, but should the 
cloud descend, I am firmly convinced that the army will acquit 
itself as it did so nobly thirty-five years ago." — At Berlin, February 
25, 1906. 

In the early days of the reign of William II war was prominent 
in his utterances. He was the War Lord in full feather, and the 
world at that time looked with dread upon this new and some- 
what blatant apostle of militarism. Yet year after year passed 
until the roll of almost three decades was achieved, without his 
drawing the sword, and the world began to regard him as an apostle 
of peace, a wise and capable ruler who could gain his ends with- 
out the shedding of blood. What are we to believe now? Had 
he been wearing a mask for all these years, biding his time, hiding 
from view a deeply cherished purpose? Or did he really believe 
that a mission awaited him, that regeneration of the world through 
the sanguinary path of the battle-field was his duty, and that by the 
aid of a successful war he could inaugurate a safer and sounder 
era of peace? 

We throw out these ideas as suggestions only. What the 
Kaiser purposed, what deep-laid schemes of international policy 
he entertained, will, perhaps, never be known. But if he was 
really responsible for the great war, as he was so widely accused 
of being, the responsibility he assumed was an awful one. If 
he was not responsible, as he declared and as some who claim to 
have been behind the scenes maintain, the world will be ready to 
absolve him when his innocence has been made evident. 




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UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 45 

WHY RUSSIA ENTERED THE FIELD 

In this survey of the causes of the great war under considera- 
tion the position of Russia comes next. That country was the 
first to follow Austria and begin the threatening work of mobiliza- 
tion. Germany's first open participation consisted in a warning 
to Russia that this work must cease. Only when her warning 
was disregarded did Germany begin mobilization and declare war. 
All this was the work of a very few days, but in this era of active 
military preparedness it needs only days, only hours in some 
instances, to change from a state of peace into a state of war and 
hurl great armed hosts against the borders of hostile nations. 

The general impression was that it was the Slavic race senti- 
ment that inspired Russia's quick action. Servia, a country of 
Slavs, brothers in race to a large section of the people of Russia, 
was threatened with national annihilation and her great kinsman 
sprang to her rescue, determined that she should not be absorbed 
by her land-hungry neighbor. This seemed to many a sufficient 
cause for Russia's action. Not many years before, when Austria 
annexed her wards, Bosnia and Herzegovina, both Slavic countries, 
Russia protested against the act. She would doubtless have done 
more than protest but for her financial and military weakness 
arising from the then recent Russo-Japanese War. In 1914 she was 
much stronger in both these elements of national power and lost 
not a day in preparing to march to Servia's aid. 

But was this the whole, or indeed the chief, moving impulse 
in Russia's action? Was she so eager an advocate of Pan-Slavism 
as such a fact would indicate? Had she not some other purpose 
in view, some fish of her own to fry, some object of moment to 
obtain? Many thought so. They were not willing to credit the 
Russian bear with an act of pure international benevolence. Wars 
of pure charity are rarely among the virtuous acts of nations. 
As it had been suggested that Germany saw in the war a possible 
opportunity to gain a frontier on the Atlantic, so it was hinted that 
Russia had in mind a similar frontier on the Mediterranean. Time 



46 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

and again she had sought to wring Constantinople from the hands 
of the Turks. In 1877 she was on the point of achieving this 
purpose when she was halted and turned back by the Congress 
of Berlin and the bellicose attitude of the nations that stood 
behind it. 

Here was another and seemingly a much better opportunity. 
The Balkan War had almost accomplished the conquest of the 
great Turkish capital and left Turkey in a state of serious weak- 
ness. If Europe should be thrown into the throes of a general war, 
in which every nation would have its own interests to care for, 
Russia's opportunity to seize upon the prize for which she had so 
long sought was an excellent one, there being no one in a position 
to say her nay. To Russia the possession of Constantinople was 
like the possession of a new world, and this may well have been 
her secret motive in springing without hesitation into the war. 
Her long-sought prize hung temptingly within reach of her hand, 
the European counterpart of the "Monroe Doctrine" could not 
now be evoked to stay her grasp, and it seems highly probable 
that in this may have lain the chief cause of Russia's participation 
in the war. 

France's hatred of Germany 

The Republic of France was less hasty than Russia and Ger- 
many in issuing a declaration of war. Yet there, too, the order of 
mobilization was quickly issued and French troops were on the 
march toward the German border before Germany had taken a 
similar step. France had not forgotten her humiliation in 1870. 
So far was she from forgetting it that she cherished a vivid recol- 
lection of what she had lost and an equally vivid enmity towards 
Germany in consequence. Enmity is hardly the word. Hatred 
better fits the feeling entertained. And this was kept vitally 
alive by the fact that Alsace and Lorraine, two of her former 
provinces, still possessing a considerable French population, were 
now held as part of the dominions of her enemy. The sore 



UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 47 

rankled and hope of retribution lay deep in the heart of the French. 
Here seemed an opportunity to achieve this long-cherished pur- 
pose, and we may reasonably believe that the possibility of regain- 
ing this lost territory made France eager to take part in the coming 
war. She had been despoiled by Germany, a valued portion of 
her territory had been wrested from her grasp, a promising chance 
of regaining it lay before her. She had the men; she had the 
arms; she had a military organization vastly superior to that of 
1870; she had the memory of her former triumphs over the now 
allied nations of Austria and Germany; she had her obligations 
to aid Russia as a further inducement. The causes of her taking 
part in the war are patent, especially in view of the fact that in a 
very brief interval after her declaration her troops had crossed the 
border and were marching gaily into Alsace, winning battles and 
occupying towns as they advanced. 

GREAT BRITAIN AND ITALY 

We have suggested that in the case alike of Austria, Russia, 
Germany and France the hope of gaining valuable acquisitions of 
territory was entertained. In the case of France, enmity to Ger- 
many was an added motive, the territory she sought being land 
of which she had been formerly despoiled. These purposes of 
changing the map of Europe did not apply to or influence Great. 
Britain. That country had no territory to gain and no great 
military organization to exercise. She possessed the most power- 
ful navy of any country in the world, but she was moved by no 
desire of showing her strength upon the sea. There was no reason, 
so far as any special advantage to herself was concerned, for her 
taking part in the war, and her first step was a generous effort 
to mediate between the Powers in arms. 

Only when Belgium — a small nation that was in a sense under 
the guardianship of Great Britain, so far as its nationality and 
neutrality were concerned — was invaded by Germany without 
warning, did Britain feel it incumbent upon her to come to its aid. 



48 UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 

This may not have been entirely an act of benevolence. There 
was a probability that ^Germany, once in control of Belgium, 
would not readily let go. She might add it to her empire, a 
fact likely to seriously affect British commerce. However 
this be, Great Britain lost no time after the invasion in be- 
coming a party to the continental war, sending her fleet abroad 
and enlisting troops for service in the aid of her allies, France and 
Belgium. 

Italy, a member of the Triple Alliance, the other members of 
which were Germany and Austria, was the only one of the great 
Powers that held aloof. She had absolutely nothing to gain by 
taking part in the war, while her late large expenses in the con- 
quest of Tripoli had seriously depleted her war chest. As regards 
her alliance with Germany and Austria, it put her under no obliga- 
tion to come to their aid in an offensive war. Her obligation was 
restricted to aid in case they were attacked, and she justly held 
that no such condition existed. As a result, Germany and Austria 
found themselves at war with the three powerful members of the 
Triple Entente, while Italy, the third member of the Triple Alliance, 
declined to draw the sword. 

The defection of Italy was a serious loss to the power of the 
allies, so much so that Emperor William threatened her with 
war if she failed to fulfil her assumed obligations. This threat 
Italy quietly ignored. She gave indications, in fact, that her 
sympathies were with the opposite party. Thus Germany and 
Austria found themselves pitted against three great Powers and a 
possible fourth, with the addition of the two small nations of 
Servia and Belgium. And the latter were not to be despised as 
of negligible importance. Servia quickly showed an ability 
to check the forward movements of Austria, while Belgium, 
without aid, long held a powerful German army at bay, 
defending the city and fortresses of Liege with a boldness 
and success that called forth the admiring acclamations of the 
world. 



UNDERLYING CAUSES OF THE GREAT WAR 49 

THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE AND TRIPLE ENTENTE 

This review of causes and motives may be supplemented by 
a brief statement of what is meant by the Triple Alliance and Triple 
Entente, terms which come into common prominence in discussing 
European politics. They indicate the division of Europe, so far 
as its greater Powers are concerned, into two fully or partially 
allied bodies, the former consisting of Germany, Austria and Italy, 
the latter of Great Britain, France and Russia. These organiza- 
tions are of comparatively recent date. The Alliance began hi 
1879 in a compact between Germany and Austria, a Dual Alliance, 
which was converted into a Triple one in 1883, Italy then, through 
the influence of Bismarck, joining the alliance. In this compact 
Austria and Germany pledged themselves to mutual assistance 
if attacked by Russia; Italy and Germany to the same if attacked 
by France. 

The Triple Entente — or Understanding — arose from a Dual 
Alliance between France and Russia, formed in 1887, an informal 
understanding between Britain and France in 1904 and a similar 
understanding between Britain and Russia in 1907. Its purpose, 
as formed by Edward VII, was to balance the Triple Alliance and 
thus convert Europe into two great military camps. When organ- 
ized there seemed little probability of its being called into activity 
for many years. 



CHAPTER III 
Strength and Resources of the Warring Powers 

Old and New Methods in War — Costs of Modern Warfare — Nature of National 

Resources — British and American Military Systems — Naval Strength — Resources of 

Austria-Hungary — Resources of Germany — Resources of Russia — Resources of France — 

Resources of Great Britain — Servia and Belgium 

WITHIN the whole history of mankind the nations of the 
earth had never been so thoroughly equipped for the 
art of warfare as they were in 1914. While the arts of 
construction have enormously developed, those of destruction have 
fuljy kept pace with them; and the horrors of war have enormously 
increased side by side with the benignities of peace. It is interesting 
to trace the history of warfare from this point of view. Beginning 
with the club and hammer of the stone age, advancing through the 
bow and arrow and the sling-shot of later times, this art, even in 
the great days of ancient civilization, the eras of Greece and Rome, 
had advanced little beyond the sword and spear, crude weapons 
of destruction as regarded in our times. They have in great part 
been set aside as symbols of military dignity, emblems of the 
"pomp and circumstance of glorious war." 

Descending through the Middle Ages we find the sword and 
spear still holding sway, with the bow as an important accessory 
for the use of the common soldier. As for the knight, he became an 
iron-clad champion, so incased in steel that he could fight effectively 
only on horseback, becoming largely helpless on foot. At length, 
the greatest stage in the history of war, the notable invention 
of gunpowder was achieved, and an enormous transformation 
took place in the whole terrible art. The musket, the rifle, the pistol, 
the cannon were one by one evolved, to develop in the nineteenth 
century into the breech-loader, the machine gun, the bomb, and the 

(50) 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 51 

multitude of devices fitted to bring about death and destruction 
by wholesale, instead of by the retail methods of older days. 

At sea, the sailing vessel, with her far-flung white wings and 
rows of puny guns, has given way to the steel-clad battleship 
with her fewer but enormously larger cannons, capable of flinging 
huge masses of iron many miles through the air and with a precision 
of aim that seems incredible for such great distances. 

We must add to this the torpedo boat, a tiny craft with a weapon 
capable of sinking the most costly and stupendous of battleships, 
and the submarine, fitted to creep unseen imder blockading fleets, 
and deal destruction with nothing to show the hand that dealt 
the deadly blow. Even the broad expanse of the air has been made 
a field of warlike activity, with scouting airships flying above 
contending armies and signaling their most secret movements 
to the forces below. 

OLD AND NEW METHODS IN WAR 

In regard to loss of life on the battle-field, it may be said that 
many of the wars of ancient times surpassed the bloodiest of those 
of modern days, despite the enormously more destructive weapons 
and implements now employed. When men fought hand to hand, 
and no idea of quarter for the defeated existed, entire armies were 
at times slaughtered on the field. In our days, when the idea of 
mercy for the vanquished prevails, this wholesale slaughter of 
beaten hosts has ceased, and the death fist of the battle-field has 
been largely reduced by caution on the part of the fighters. With 
the feeling that a dead soldier is utterly useless, and a wounded 
one often worse than useless, as constituting an impediment, every 
means of saving life is utilized. Soldiers now fight miles apart. 
Prostrate, hidden, taking advantage of every opportunity of pro- 
tection, every natural advantage or artificial device, vast quantities 
of ammunition are wasted on the empty air, every ball that finds 
its quarry in human flesh being mayhap but one in hundreds that 
go astray. In the old-time wars actual hand-to-hand fighting took 



52 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

place. Almost every stroke told, every thrusting blade was 
directly parried or came back stained with blood. In modern wars 
fighting of this kind has ceased. A battle has become a matter 
of machinery. The strong arm and stalwart heart are replaced 
by the bullet-flinging machine, and it is a rare event for a man to 
know to whose hand he owes wound or death. Such, at least, 
was largely the case in the war between Russia and Japan in 1905. 
But in recent battles we read of hordes of soldiers charging up to 
the muzzles of machine guns, and being mowed down like 
ripened wheat. 

COSTS OF MODERN WARFARE 

But while loss of human life in war has not greatly increased, 
in other directions the cost of warfare has enormously grown. 
In the past, little special preparation was needed by the fighter. 
Armies could be recruited off-hand from city or farm and do valiant 
duty in the field, with simple and cheap weapons. In our days 
years of preliminary preparation are deemed necessary and the costs 
of war go on during times of profound peace, millions of men who 
could be used effectively in the peaceful industries spending the 
best years of their lives in learning the most effective methods of 
destroying their fellow men. 

This is only one phase of the element of cost. Great work- 
shops are devoted to the preparation of military material, of abso- 
lutely no use to mankind except as instruments of destruction. 
The costs of war, even in times of peace, are thus very large. But 
they increase in an enormous proportion after war has actually 
begun, millions of dollars being needed where tens formerly sufficed, 
and national bankruptcy threatening the nation that keeps its armies 
long in the field. The American Civil War, fought half a century 
ago, was a costly procedure for the American people. If it had been 
fought five or ten years ago its cost would have been increased 
five-fold, so great has been the progress in this terrible art in the 
interval. 




c3 H OJ 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 53 

NATURE OF NATIONAL RESOURCES 

It is our purpose in the present chapter to take up the subject 
of this cost and review the condition and resources of the several 
nations which were involved in the dread internecine struggle 
of 1914, the frightful conflict of nations that moved like a great 
panorama before our eyes. These resources are of two kinds. 
One of them consists in the material wealth of the nations concerned, 
the product of the fields and factories, the mineral treasures beneath 
the soil, the results of trade and commercial activity and the con- 
ditions of national finance, including the extent of available revenue 
and the indebtedness which hangs over each nation, much of it 
a heritage from former wars which have left little beyond this aggra- 
vating record of their existence. It is one which adds something 
to the cost of every particle of food consumed by the people, every 
shred of clothing worn by them. Additions to this incubus of debt 
little disturb the rulers when blithely or bitterly engaging in new 
wars, but every such addition adds to the burdens of taxation laid 
on the shoulders of the groaning citizens, and is sure to deepen 
the harvest of retribution when the time for it arrives. 

A second of these resources is that of preparation for war in 
time of peace, the training of the able-bodied citizens in the military 
art, until practically the entire nation becomes converted into a 
vast army, its members, after their term of compulsory service, 
engaging in ordinary labors in times of peace, yet liable to be called 
into the field whenever the war lords desire, to face the death- 
belching field piece and machine gun in a sanguinary service in 
which they have little or no personal concern. This preparedness, 
with the knowledge of the duties of a soldier which it involves, 
is a valuable war resource to any nation that is saddled with such 
a system of universal military training. And few nations of Europe 
and the East are now without it. Great Britain is the chief one in 
Europe, while in America the United States is a notable example 
of a nation that has adopted the opposite policy, that of keeping- 
its population at peaceful labor, steadily adding to its resources, 



STAGGERING FIGURES ON THE GREATEST 
WAR IN HISTORY 



According to official estimates over 75 per cent of 
the population of Europe was involved in the war of 1914. 
Of an estimated total of 495,473,000 persons in all Europe, 
nations having an approximate total of 372,373,000 
inhabitants were fighting against each other with a total 
estimated army strength in time of war of about 
17,992,000 men. The statistics of the warring nations 
were approximately as follows: 

Estimated War Strength 

Nations Population of Army 

Russia 160,100,000 5,500,000 

Germany 64,900,000 5,300,000 

Austria-Hungary 51,340,000 2,000,000 

Great Britain 45,000,000 730,000 

France 39,601,000 4,000,000 

Belgium 7,432,000 222,000 

Servia 4,000,000 240,000 

Totals 372,373,000 17,992,000 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 55 

during the whole time in which peace prevails, and trusting to the 
courage and mental resources of its citizens to teach them quickly 
the art of fighting when, if ever, the occasion shall arrive. 

It must be admitted that the European system of militarism 
is likely to be of great advantage in the early days of a war, in which 
large bodies of trained soldiers can be hurled with destructive force 
against hastily gathered militia. The distinction between trained 
and untrained soldiers, however, rapidly disappears in a war of 
long continuance. Experience in the field is a lesson far superior 
to any gained in mock warfare, and the taking part in a few battles 
will teach the art of warfare to an extent surpassing that of years 
of marching and counter-marching upon the training field. 

BRITISH AND AMERICAN MILITARY SYSTEMS 

Britain and the United States, the only two of the greater 
nations that have adopted the policy here considered, are not 
trusting completely to chance. Each of them has a body of 
regular troops, fitted for police duty in time of peace and for field 
duty in time of war, and serving as a nucleus fitted to give a 
degree of coherence to raw militia when the sword is drawn. Sub- 
sidiary to these are bodies of volunteer troops, training as a recrea- 
tion rather than as an occupation, yet constituting a valuable 
auxiliary to the regular forces. This system possesses the ad- 
vantage of maintaining no soldiers except those kept in constant 
and needful duty, all the remaining population staying at their 
regular labors and adding very materially every year to the resources 
of the nation, while saving the great sums expended without ade- 
quate return in the process of keeping up the system of militarism. 

What is above said refers only to the human element in the 
system. In addition is the necessity of preparing and keeping in 
store large quantities of war material — cannons, rifles, ammuni- 
tion, etc. — the building of inland forts and coast and harbor forti- 
fications, for ready and immediate use in time of war. In this all 
the nations are alike actively engaged, the United States and 



56 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

Britain as well as those of the European continent, and none of 
them are likely to be caught amiss in this particular. Cannon 
and gunpowder eat no food and call for no pay or pension, and 
once got ready can wait with little loss of efficiency. They may, 
indeed, become antiquated through new invention and develop- 
ment, and need to be kept up to date in this particular. But 
otherwise they can be readily kept in store and each nation may 
with comparative ease maintain itself on a level with others as 
regards its supply of material of war. 

NAVAL STRENGTH 

In one field of war-preparation little of the distinction 
indicated exists. This is that of ocean warfare, in which rivalry 
between the great Powers goes on without restriction — at least 
between the distinctively maritime nations. In this field of effort, 
the building of gigantic battleships and minor war vessels, 
Britain has kept itself in advance of all others, as a nation in which 
the sea is likely to be the chief field of warlike activity. Beginning 
with a predominance in war ships, it has steadily retained it, add- 
ing new and constantly greater war ships to its fleet with a feverish 
activity, under the idea that here is its true field of warfare. It 
has sought vigorously to keep itself on a level in this particular 
with any two of its rivals in sea power. While it has not quite 
succeeded in this, the United States and Germany pushing it 
closely, it is well in the lead as compared with any single Power, 
and to keep this lead it is straining every nerve and fiber of its 
national capacity. 

RESOURCES OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

Coming now to a statement of the strength and resources 
of the chief Powers concerned in the present war, Austria-Hungary, 
as the originator of the outbreak, stands first. It is scarcely neces- 
sary to repeat that its severe demands upon Servia, arising from 
the murder of the Archduke Ferdinand and its refusal to accept 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 57 

Servia's almost complete acceptance of its terms, led to an immedi- 
ate declaration of war upon the small offending state, the war fever 
thus started quickly extending from side to side of the continent. 
Therefore in considering the existing conditions of the various coun- 
tries involved, those of Austria-Hungary properly come first, the 
others following in due succession. 

Austria-Hungary is a dual kingdom, each partner to the 
union having its separate national organization and legislative body. 
While both are under the rule of one monarch, Francis Joseph 
being at once the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary, 
their union is not a very intimate one. There is large racial dis- 
tinction between the two countries, and Hungary cherishes a 
strong feeling of animosity to Austria, the outcome of acts of 
tyranny and barbarity not far in the past. 

The two countries closely approach each other in area, Austria 
having 115,903 and Hungary 125,039 square miles; making a 
total of 240,942. The populations also do not vary largely, the 
total being estimated at about 50,000,000. Of these the Slavs 
number more than 24,000,000, approaching one half the total, 
while of Germans there are but 11,500,000, little more than half 
the Slavic population. The Magyars, or Hungarians, a people 
of eastern origin, and the main element of Hungarian population, 
number about 8,750,000. In addition there are several millions 
of Roumanian and Italic stock, and a considerable number of 
Jews and Gypsies. The inclusion of this heterogeneous population 
into one kingdom dates far back in medieval history, and it was 
not until 1867, as a consequence of a vigorous Hungarian demand, 
that Austria and Hungary became divided into separate nations, 
the remnant of their former close union remaining in their being 
ruled by one monarch, the venerable Francis Joseph, who is still 
upon the throne. This division quickly followed the war between 
Prussia and Austria in 1866, and was one of the results of the 
defeat of Austria in that war. 

Austria is a hilly or mountainous country, its plains occupying 



58 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

only about one fifth of the total territory. The most extensive 
tracts of low or flat land occur in Hungary, Galicia and Slavonia, 
the great Hungarian plain having an area of 36,000 square miles. 
Much of this is highly fertile, and Hungary is the great granary of 
the country. Austria-Hungary is well watered by the Danube and 
its tributaries and has a small extent of sea-coast on the Adriatic, 
its principal ports being Trieste, Pola and Fiume. Its railways 
are about 30,000 miles in length. In consequence of its interior 
position its largest trade is with Germany, through which empire 
there is also an extensive transit commerce. Its mountainous 
character makes it rich in minerals, the chief of these being coal, 
iron, and salt. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly part of Turkey in Europe, 
were put under the military occupation and administrative rule 
of Austria after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-8, and in 1908 
were fully annexed by Austria, an act of spoliation which had its 
ultimate result in the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, 
and may thus be considered the instigating agency in the 1914 war. 

The finances of Austria-Hungary may be briefly given. Austria 
has an annual revenue of $636,909,000; Hungary of $410,068,000; 
their expenditure equaling these sums. The debt of Austria is 
stated at $1,433,511,000; of Hungary, $1,257,810,000; and of the 
joint states at $1,050,000,000. Military service is obligatory on 
all over twenty years of age who are capable of bearing arms, 
the total terms of service being twelve years, of which three are 
passed in the line, seven in the reserve, and two in the Landwehr. 
The army is estimated to number 390,000 on the peace footing 
and over 2,000,000 on the war footing. Its navy numbers four 
modern and nine older battleships, with twelve cruisers and a num- 
ber of smaller craft. 

RESOURCES OF GERMANY 

Germany, in the census of 1910, was credited with a popu- 
lation of 64,925,993. This is in great part composed of Teutons, 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 59 

or men of German race, its people being far less heterogeneous 
than those of Austria, though it includes several millions of Slavs, 
Lithuanians, Poles and others. It has an area of 208,738 square 
miles. It is mountainous in the south and center, but in the 
north there is a wide plain extending to the German Ocean and the 
Baltic Sea, and forming part of the great watershed which stretches 
across Europe. Its soil, except in the more rugged and moun- 
tainous districts, is prolific, being well watered and bearing abun- 
dant crops of the ordinary cereals. Potatoes, hemp and flax are- 
very abundant crops and the sugar beet is extensively cultivated. 
The forests are of great extent and value, and are carefully con- 
served to yield a large production without over cutting. Among 
domestic animals, the cattle, sheep and swine of certain districts 
have long been famous. 

The minerals are numerous and some of them of much value, 
those of chief importance being coal, iron, zinc, lead and salt. 
While much attention is given to mining and agriculture, the 
manufacturing industries are especially important. Linens and 
other textiles are widely produced and iron manufacture is largely 
carried on. The Krupp iron works at Essen are of world-wide 
fame, and the cannon made there are used in the forts of many 
distant nations. 

These are a few only of the large variety of manufactures, 
a market for which is found in all parts of the world, the com- 
merce of Germany being widely extended. In short, the empire 
has come into very active rivalry with Great Britain in the develop- 
ment of commerce, and to its progress in this direction it owes 
much of its flourishing condition. Hamburg is by far the most 
important seaport, Bremen, Stettin, Danzig and others also 
being thriving ports. The total length of railway is over 40,000 
miles. 

The annual revenue of the German Empire is nearly $900,000,- 
000; that of its component states, $1,500,000,000. The debt of 
the empire is estimated at $1,180,000,000; that of the states at 



60 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

$3,735,000,000. The revenue is derived chiefly from customs duties, 
excise duties on beet-root sugar, salt, tobacco and malt and contri- 
butions from the several states. 

Germany is the foster home of modern militarism and is held 
to have the most complete army system in the world. Every man 
capable of bearing arms must begin his military training on the 
1st of January of the year in which he reaches the age of twenty, 
and continue it to the end of his forty-second year, unless released 
from this duty by the competent authorities, either altogether or 
for times of peace. 

Seven years of this time must be spent in the army or fleet; 
three of them in active service, four in the reserve. Seven more 
years are passed in the Landwehr, the members of which may be 
called out only twice for training. The remaining time is passed in 
the Landsturm, which is called out only in case of invasion of the 
empire. The total peace strength of the army is given at 870,000; 
of the reserves at 4,430,000; the total being 5,300,000. 

The naval force of Germany is very powerful, though con- 
siderably less than that of Great Britain. It comprises 19 of the 
enormous modern battleships, 7 cruiser battleships, and 20 of older 
type; 9 first-class and 45 second and third-class cruisers, and 
numerous smaller warships, including 47 torpedo boats, 141 destroy- 
ers and 60 submarines. 

RESOURCES OF RUSSIA 

Russia, the third of the three nations to which the war was 
most immediately due, is the most extensive consolidated empire 
in the world, its total area being estimated at 8,647,657 square 
miles, of which 1,852,524 are in Europe, the remainder in Asia. 
The population is given at about 160,000,000, of which 130,000,000 
are in Europe. 

Agriculture is the chief pursuit of this great population, though 
manufactures are largely developing. The forests, immense in 
extent, cover forty-two per cent of the area and contain timber in 






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STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 61 

enormous quantities. While a large part of the area is level ground 
there is much elevated territory, and the mineral wealth is very 
important. It includes gold, silver, platinum, iron, copper, coal 
and salt, all of large occurrence. Of the people, over 1,800,000 
are employed in manufacture, and the annual value of the commerce 
amounts to $1,300,000,000. The length of railway is about 50,000 
miles. 

Russia is heavily in debt, Germany being its largest creditor. 
The total debt is stated at $4,553,000,000, its revenue $1,674,000,000. 
The liability to military service covers all able-bodied men between 
the ages of twenty and forty-two years. Five years must be passed 
in active service, the remainder in the various reserves. On a 
peace footing the army is 1,290,000 strong; its war strength is 
5,500,000. The territorial service is capable of supplying about 
3,000,000 more, making a possible total of 7,500,000. As regards 
the navy, it was greatly reduced in strength in the war with Japan 
and has not yet fully recovered. The empire now possesses nine 
modern battleships, four cruiser battleships, and eight of old type. 
There are also cruisers and other vessels, including 23 torpedo 
boats, 105 destroyers, and 48 submarines. 

RESOURCES OF FRANCE 

France, the one large Power in Europe in which the people have 
come to their own and have got rid of the fact of a king, as illustrated 
in the other continental Powers, the fiction of a king, as illustrated 
in the British realm — the one, in addition to the mountain realm of 
Switzerland, in which the people govern themselves through their 
representatives, has taken up the dogma of militarism in common 
with its neighbors and constitutes the fourth of the Powers in which 
this system has been carried to its ultimate. 

France had a startling object lesson in 1870. It had, under 
Napoleon III, been imitating Prussia in its military establishment, 
and its government officials coincided with the emperor in the 
theory that its army was in a splendid state of preparation. Mar- 



62 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

shal Leboeuf lightly declared that "everything was ready, more 
than ready, and not a gaiter button missing," and it was with a 
light-hearted confidence that the Emperor Napoleon declared war 
against Prussia, the insensate multitude filling Paris with their 
futile war cry of "On to Berlin." 

This is not the place to deal with this subject, but it may be 
said that France quickly learned that nothing was ready and the 
nation went down in the most sudden and awful disaster of modern 
times. A lesson had been taught, one not easy to forget. The 
Republic succeeded the Empire, and has since been working on the 
theory that war with its old enemy might at any time become 
imminent and no negligence in the matter of preparation could be 
permitted. As a consequence, France went into the war of 1914 
in a state of fitness greatly superior to that of 1870, and Germany 
found France waiting on its border fine, alert and able, ready alike 
for offense or defense. 

What are the natural conditions, the strength and resources, 
of this great republic? France has an area of 207,054 square miles, 
almost the same as that of the German Empire. If its numerous 
colonies be added, its total area is over 4,000,000 square miles. But 
this vast colonial expanse is of no special advantage to it in a Euro- 
pean war. Its population is 39,601,509 ; if Algeria, its most available 
colony, be added, it is about 45,000,000, a total 20,000,000 less than 
the population of Germany. 

Its soil is highly fitted for agricultural use, about nine tenths 
of it being productive and more than half of it under the plow, 
the cereals forming the bulk of its products. Its wheat crop is 
large and oats, rye and barley are also of value, though the raising 
of the domestic animals is of less importance than in the surround- 
ing countries. The growth of the vine is one of its most important 
branches of agriculture, and in good years France produces about 
half of the total wine yield of the world. In mineral wealth it stands 
at a somewhat low level, its yield of coal, iron, etc., being of minor 
importance. 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 63 

France enjoys a large and valuable commerce and active 
manufacturing industries, products of a more or less artistic char- 
acter being especially attended to. Of the textile fabrics, those 
of silk goods are much the most important, this industry employ- 
ing about 2,000,000 persons and yielding more than a fourth in 
value of the whole manufactured products of France. Other 
products are carpets, tapestry, fine muslins, lace and cotton goods. 
Products of different character are numerous and their value large. 
The fisheries of France are also of much importance. Its com- 
merce, while large, is very considerably less than that of Great 
Britain and Germany, France being especially a self-centered coun- 
try, largely using what it makes. 

There is abundant provision for internal trade and travel, 
there being 30,000 miles of railway, 3,000 miles of canal, and 
5,500 miles of navigable rivers. The annual revenue approaches 
$1,000,000,000, and the public debt in 1914 was at the large total 
of over $6,200,000,000. This is much the largest debt of any 
nation in the world, the debt of Russia, which comes next in amount, 
being about $1,700,000,000 less. It is largely due to the cost of 
the war of 1870 and the subsequent large payment to Germany. 
Yet the French people carry it without feeling seriously over- 
burdened. 

Coming now to the French military system, it rivals that of 
Germany in efficiency. The law requires the compulsory mili- 
tary service of every French citizen who is not unfit for such 
service. They have to serve in the regular army for three years, 
in the regular reserves for six years, in the territorial army for 
six years, and finally in the reserves of this army for ten years. 
This gives France a peace strength of 720,000 and a total war 
strength of 4,000,000. The navy is manned partly by conscrip- 
tion, partly by voluntary enlistment, the naval forces comprising 
about 60,000 officers and men. 

The naval strength of the republic embraces 17 modern battle- 
ships, 25 of older type, 18 first-class, 13 second and third-class 



64 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

cruisers, 173 torpedo boats, 87 destroyers, and 90 submarines. There 
is another element of modern military strength of growing impor- 
tance, and sure to be of large use in the war under review. This 
is that of the airship. In 1914 France stood at the head in this 
particular, its aeroplanes, built or under construction, numbering 
550. Germany had 375, Russia 315, Italy 270, Austria 220, 
Britain 180 and Belgium 150. In dirigible balloons Germany 
stood first, with 50. France had 30, Russia 15, Austria 10 and 
Britain 7. These air-soaring implements of war came into play 
early in the conflict and Tennyson's vision of " battles in the blue" 
was realized in attacks of aeroplanes upon dirigibles, with death 
to the crews of each. 

RESOURCES OF GREAT BRITAIN 

Great Britain, the remaining party to the five-fold war of 
great European Powers, is an island country of considerably 
smaller area than those so far named. Including Ireland it has an 
area of 121,391 square miles, about equal to that of the American 
State of New Mexico and not half the size of the Canadian province 
of Saskatchewan. Its population, however, surpasses that of 
France, amounting to 45,221,615. If the outlying dominions 
of Great Britain be added it becomes one of the leading empires 
of the world, its colonial dominions being estimated at over 
13,000,000 square miles, and the total population of kingdom and 
colonies at 435,000,000, the greatest population of any country in 
the world. And Britain differs from France in the fact that much 
of this outlying population is available for war purposes in case 
of peril to the liberties of the mother country. At the outbreak of 
the war of 1914 the loyal Dominion of Canada sprang at once into 
the field, mobilized its forces, and offered the mother land material 
aid in men and ships. 

The same sense of loyalty doubtless exists in Australia and 
South Africa and in others of the British oversea dominions, 
while India could add an important contingent to the army if 



THE WAR CALL OF SIR JAMES WHITNEY TO ALL 
CANADIANS 

"I have been asked to express an opinion upon Canada's duty 
towards the Empire at this juncture. The momentous crisis we now 
face makes plain what Canada's course must be. That course is to 
exert her whole strength and power at once in behalf of our Empire. 

"We are part of the Empire in the fullest sense and share in its 
obligations as well as its privileges. We have enjoyed under British 
rule the blessings of peace, liberty and protection and now that we 
have an opportunity of repaying in some measure the heavy debt we 
owe the Mother Country, we will do so with cheerfulness and courage. 

"I know my fellow Canadians too well to doubt that they will 
respond with enthusiastic loyalty to the appeal. Sir RobertBorden 
has all Canada behind him in the steps that must be taken to join 
in fighting the Empire's battles, because the contest forced upon 
Great Britain is our contest as much as hers and upon the issue of 
events depends our national existence. 

"Never before in our history has the call of duty and of honor 
been so clear and imperative and Canada will neither quail nor falter 
at the last. The British Government has done everything possible 
to avoid war and has sought peace with an earnestness worthy of 
responsible statesmen. But a dishonorable peace would prove dis- 
astrous to the Empire and we would be unworthy of the blood that 
runs in our veins if we sought to avoid an inevitable conflict. 

"I rejoice at the evidence of Imperial unity displayed on all 
sides and, as our cause is to preserve liberty and resist an unjust 
aggression, it will evoke all that is best and noblest in the Canadian 
character." 



66 STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 

necessity demanded. As for the immediate kingdom, it is not of 
high value in agricultural wealth, being at present divided up to a 
considerable extent into large unproductive estates, and it is quite 
unable to feed its teeming population, depending for this on its 
large commerce in food products. Its annual imports amount to 
about $3,000,000,000, its exports to $2,250,000,000. 

Commercially and industrially alike Great Britain stands at 
the head of all European nations. Its abundant mineral wealth, 
especially in coal and iron, has stimulated manufactures to the 
highest degree, while its insular character and numerous seaports 
have had a similar stimulating effect upon commerce. Its revenue, 
aside from that of the colonies, amounts to about $920,000,000 
annually, and its public debt reaches a total of $3,485,000,000. 

The British government depends largely for safety from 
invasion upon its insular position and its enormously developed 
navy, and has not felt it necessary to enter upon the frenzy of 
military preparation which pervades the continental nations. 
No British citizen is obliged to bear arms except for the defense of 
his country, but all able-bodied men are liable to militia service, 
the militia being raised, when required, by ballot. Enlistment 
among the regulars is either for twelve years' army service, or for 
seven years' army service and five years' reserve service. The 
peace strength of the army is estimated at about 255,000 men, the 
reserves at 475,000; making a total of 730,000. 

It is in its navy that Great Britain's chief warlike strength 
exists, the naval force being much greater than that of any other 
nation. It possesses in all 29 modern battleships, many of them 
of the great dreadnaught and super-dreadnaught type. In addi- 
tion it has 10 cruiser battleships, and 38 older battleships, most of 
the latter likely to be of little service for warlike duty. There are 
also 45 first-class, and 70 second and third-class cruisers, 58 torpedo 
boats, 212 destroyers and 85 submarines, the whole forming a 
total naval strength approaching that of any two of the other 
Powers. 






STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 67 

SEEVTA AND BELGIUM 

As regards the remaining nations engaged in the war, Servia, 
in which the contest began, has an area of 18,782 square miles, a 
population of 4,000,000, and a standing army of 240,000, a number 
seemingly very inadequate to face the enormously greater power 
of Austria-Hungary. But the men had become practically all 
soldiers, very many of them tried veterans of the recent Balkan 
War; their country is mountainous and admirably fitted for defen- 
sive warfare, and their power of resistance to invasion was quickly 
shown to be great. 

Belgium, the other early seat of the war, is still smaller in area, 
having but 11,366 square miles. But it is very densely populated, 
possessing 7,432,784 inhabitants. Its army proved brave and 
capable, its fortifications modern and well adapted to defense, and 
small as was its field force it held back the far more numerous 
German invaders until France and Great Britain had their troops 
in position for available defense. This small intermediate kingdom 
therefore played a very important part in the outset of the war. 

If one judges by the figures given of the available military 
strength of the nations involved, the huge host said to have 
followed Xerxes to the invasion of Greece could easily be far sur- 
passed in modern warfare. The fact is, however, that these huge 
figures greatly exceed the numbers that could, except in the most 
extreme exigency, be available for use in the field, and for real 
active service we should be obliged to greatly reduce these paper 
estimates. It must be taken into account that the fields and 
factories of the nations cannot be too greatly denuded of their 
trained workers. It was a shrewd saying of Napoleon Bonaparte 
that "An army marches on its stomach," and the important duty 
of keeping the stomach adequately filled can not be overlooked. 

In actual war also there is an enormous exhaustion of military 
material, which must be constantly replaced, and this in turn 
demands the services of great numbers of trained artisans. The 
question of finance also cannot be overlooked. It needs vast 



NUMERICAL UNITS OF STANDING ARMIES 



In order to inform the reader about the size of the various sub-divisions 
of foreign armies, a table which gives as accurately as possible the number 
of men and the composition of such divisions follows: 

GERMANY 

Army Corps — Its staff, 2 infantry divisions, 2 regiments of field artillery, 
3 squadrons of cavalry, a company of pioneers, a bridge train, field bakeries, 
telegraph troops, field hospital, etc., one or two batteries of heavy field howitzers 
or mortars and a machine gun group. Total, 40,000 men. Infantry Division — 
Two brigades. Total, 12,000 men. Brigade — Two regiments. Total, 6,000 
men. Regiment — Three battalions of 4 companies each. Total, 3,000 men. 
Battalion — Four companies of 250 men each. Total, 1,000 men. Regiment 
of Field Artillery — Nine batteries of field guns and 3 of field howitzers; 72 pieces. 
Battery — Six guns. Brigade of Cavalry — Two and occasionally three regiments. 
Total, 1,600 to 2,400 men. Regiment of Cavalry — Four squadrons of 200 men 
each. Total, 800 men. 

FRANCE 

Army Corps — Two infantry divisions, 1 brigade of cavalry, 1 brigade of 
horse and foot artillerv, 1 engineers' battalion, 1 squadron of train. Total, 
40,000 men. Infantry Division — Two brigades of infantry, 1 squadron of cavalry, 
12 batteries. Total, 12,000 men and 48 guns. Brigade — Two regiments of 3 
battalions each. Total, 6,000 men. Regiment — Three battalions of 4 companies 
each. Total, 3,000 men. Battalion — Four companies of 250 men each. Total 
1,000 men. Cavalry Division — Two and sometimes three brigades; 3,200-4,800 
men. Brigade of Cavalry — Two regiments of 8 squadrons, with 2 batteries of 
artillery. Regiment of Cavalry — Four squadrons; 800 men. Squadron of Cavalry 
— Two hundred men. Battery of Artillery — Six guns. 

GREAT BRITAIN 

Brigade of Infantry — Four battalions and administrative and medical 
units. Total, 4,000 men. Cavalry Brigade — Two regiments of 4 squadrons each. 
Total, 800 men. Brigade of Artillery — Three batteries, 18 guns; heavy artillery, 
12 guns; field howitzers, 2 batteries; horse artillery, 2 batteries. Battery — Six 
guns. Division — Fifty-four guns, 12 howitzers and 4 heaw field guns; 15.000 
combatants. 

RUSSIA 

Army Corps — Thirty-six thousand men. Army Corps with Cavalry Division 
— Forty thousand men. Cavalry Division — Four thousand men. Battalion 
of Infantry — Eight hundred men. Squadron of Cavalry — One hundred and 
twenty-five men. Battery of Artillery — Eight guns. 

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 

Army Corps — Two infantry divisions, 1 regiment of field artillery, 1 pioneer 
battalion, 1 bridging corps. Total, 34,000 men. Infantry Division — Twelve 
thousand men. Cavalry Division — Four thousand men. Artillery Brigade — 
Ten battalions, 6 guns each. 




Copyright by Underwood and Underwood, X. Y 



THE WAR LORD OF EUROPE 

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany leaving the palace on his way to review the troops 
mobilized for an almost world-wide war. _ He has built up the German army during 
his reign to be the finest fighting machine in the world. 



STRENGTH AND RESOURCES OF POWERS 69 

sums of money to keep a modern army in the field, this increasing 
rapidly as the forces grow in numbers, and no national treasure 
chest is inexhaustible. Tax as they may, the war lords cannot 
squeeze out of their people more blood than flows in their veins, 
and exhaustion of the war-chest may prove even more disastrous 
than exhaustion of the regiments. For these reasons a limit to the 
size of armies is inevitable and in any great war this limitation 
must quickly make itself apparent. 




CHAPTER IV 
Pan-Slavism Versus Pan-Germanism 

Russia's Part in the Servian Issue — Strength of the Russian Army — The Distribution 
of the Slavs — Origin of Pan-Slavism — The Czar's Proclamation — The Teutons of 
Europe — Intermingling of Races — The Nations at War — Spread of Teutonic Civiliza- 
tion — Views of German-Americans. 

k AN-SLAVISM against Pan-Germanism was the issue which 
was launched when the Emperor of all the Russias took 
up Servia's quarrel with Austria-Hungary. Russia, if she 
wanted a ground for war, could have found no better one. The 
popularity of her aggressive big-brother attitude to all the Slavs 
was quickly attested in St. Petersburg. It had been a long time 
since war had appealed with the same favor to so large a part of 
the Czar's people. Slavs there were in plenty to menace the allied 
German Powers, even if there were not allied French arms, on 
Germany's other flank, and Britain's naval supremacy to cope with. 
Slavs in past times had spread over all of eastern Europe, from 
the Arctic to the Adriatic and the JEgesm Seas. Their continuity 
was long ago broken into by an intrusion of Magyars, Finns, and 
Roumanians, leaving a northern Slavic section composed of North 
Russians, Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks, and a southern section com- 
prising the main body of the Balkan people. For over a thousand 
years these Slavs have peopled Europe east of the Elbe River. 
And for centuries they kept the hordes of Cossacks, Turks and bar- 
barians off Europe. Russia in those days was called "the nation 
of the sword." And over a hundred years ago that sword was 
drawn for Servia. After 400 years of vassalage to Turkey, the 
Serbs rebelled in 1804, and then only Russian intervention saved 
them from defeat. In later wars oppression of the Slavs was 
a prominent issue. 

(70) 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 71 

Russia's part in the Servian issue 

What rendered the Russian menace so formidable at the 
opening of the 1914 war was the unusual enthusiasm which was 
displayed. Ordinarily, the huge population of Russia has been 
rather apathetic toward the purposes of the Emperor. But in 
the case of Austria's injustice to Servia the Czar, judging from the 
demonstrations in St. Petersburg, could reasonably count upon 
having behind him possibly 100,000,000 Slavs among his subjects. 
Moscow and Odessa gave similar demonstrations of good feeling, 
and it seemed as if, in the event of the Czar's assuming command 
as generalissimo of all the forces, the wave of enthusiasm would 
sweep over the whole empire. Who knows what is the strength 
of the Russian bear, once he is roused to sullen fury? In the ten 
years following the Russo-Japanese War Russia had greatly added 
to her army and navy, and materially cut down the time required 
for the mobilization of her forces by eliminating many of the diffi- 
culties attendant upon transportation and equipment of troops. 
Her quiet advances toward becoming a Power to be feared by 
the most formidable European nation had come to be recognized 
even if in a vague way. 

In considering the potential strength of the armies which 
Russia, in the course of a long war, might put in the field, it may 
be pointed out that military service in that empire of more than 
160,000,000 people is universal and compulsory. Service under 
the flag begins at the age of twenty and lasts for twenty-three 
years. Usually it is proportioned as follows : Three or four years 
in the active army, fourteen or fifteen in the Zapas, or first reserve, 
and five years in the Opolchenie, or second reserve. For the 
Cossacks, those fighters who are a conspicuous element of Russia's 
military strength, there is hardly a cessation in discipline during 
their early manhood. Holding their lands by military tenure, 
they are liable to service for life. Furnishing their own equip- 
ment and horses — the Cossack is almost invariably a cavalryman — 
they pass through three periods of four years each, with diminish- 



72 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

ing duties, until they wind up in the reserve, which is liable to be 
called into the field in time of war. 

STRENGTH OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY 

Russia's field army consists of three powerful divisions — the 
army of European Russia, the army of Asia, already referred to, 
and the army of the Caucasus. The European Russian field army 
consists of twenty-seven army corps — each corps comprising, at 
fighting strength, about 36,000 men — and some twenty-odd cavalry 
divisions, of 4,000 horsemen each. With the field army of the 
Caucasus and the first and second reserve divisions of the Cossacks, 
the total would be brought to nearly 1,600,000 men. With the 
Asiatic army, the grand total, according to the latest figures, would 
give the Russian armies a fighting strength of 1,850,000 men, of 
whom it would be practicable to assemble, say, 1,200,000 in a 
single theater of war. With respect to the armies which could be 
put in the field in time of urgent demand, there are conflicting 
estimates. It seems certain that Russia's war strength is more 
than 5,500,000 men, but, of course, the train service and the artil- 
lery for such a force is lacking. Two and three-quarter million 
men could probably be mustered at one time. 

In the event of a prolonged war, in which the tide of affairs 
should put Russia strictly on the defensive, she would be less easily 
invaded than any large country of Europe. The very extent of 
her empire, protected by natural barriers at almost every side 
save where she touches Northeast Europe, would present almost 
insuperable difficulties to the invader. Napoleon paid dearly for 
his fortitude in pushing his columns into Moscow. The only 
conditions under which a repetition of such a feat is conceivable 
were not likely to be found during a general European struggle. 

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SLAVS 

To make matters worse for the Austrian or German invader, 
there are conflicting relations between their own people and the 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 73 

Russians. The Polish provinces, for instance, however unfriendly 
toward Russia, as one of the dismemberers of the Polish kingdom, 
are strongly bound in blood and speech to the Russian nation. 
The Poles and Russians are brother Slavs, and are likely to remem- 
ber this in any conflict which approaches an issue between Pan- 
Germanism and Pan-Slavism. The Poles of East Prussia have 
an ingrained hatred of their German masters and have been 
embittered by political oppression almost to the point of revolt. 
Those along Austria's eastern border are little less bitter. 

The estimate is made that Europe contains in all about 
140,000,000 Slavs, this being the most numerous race on the con- 
tinent, the Teutons ranking second. While the great bulk of 
these are natives of Russia, they have penetrated in large num- 
bers to the west and south, and are to be found abundantly in the 
Balkan region, in the Austrian realm, and in the region of the 
disintegrated kingdom of Poland. 

According to recent authoritative statistics the race question 
in Austria-Hungary is decidedly complicated and diversified In 
the kingdoms and provinces represented in the Reichsrath in 
Vienna there are nearly 10,000,000 Germans and 18,500,000 
non-Germans. Of these nearly 17,500,000 are Slavs. Among 
these Slavs, the Croats and Serbs number 780,000, chiefly in Dal- 
matia, while there are in all 660,000 Orthodox and nearly 3,500,000 
Greek Uniats. 

In Hungary, with its subject kingdoms of Croatia and Sla- 
vonia, there are 8,750,000 Magyars, 2,000,000 Germans, and 
8,000,000 other non-Magyars. Of these, 3,000,000 are Roumanians 
and well over 5,000,000 Slavs. The Croats, or Roman Catholic 
Serbs, number 1,800,000, and their Orthodox brothers are 1,100,000 
in number. All told, Hungary has nearly 11,000,000 Roman Cath- 
olic subjects, 2,000,000 Greek Uniats, and 3,000,000 Orthodox. 
In this connection it should be remembered that the Patriarchate 
of the Orthodox Serb Church has been fixed at Karlowitz, under 
Hungarian rule, for over two centuries. 



74 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

In Bosnia there are 434,000 Roman Catholic Croats, 825,000 
Orthodox Serbs, and over 600,000 Bosniaks, or Moslem Serbs. 
Thus it will be seen that the Emperor Francis Joseph rules over 
more than 24,000,000 Slavs and 3,225,000 Roumanians, of whom 
nearly 4,500,000 adhere to various Orthodox Churches and 5,400,000 
are Uniats. Of this Slav mass 5,000,000 Poles, mostly Roman 
Catholics, are not particularly susceptible to Pan-Slav propaganda, 
as that is largely Russian and Orthodox. 

Within the boundaries of Germany herself there are over 
3,000,000 Slavs, chiefly Poles, the Slavs of Polish descent in all 
being estimated at 15,000,000. To these must be added the Bul- 
garians, Serbs and Montenegrins of the Balkan region, constituting 
about 7,000,000 more. 

ORIGIN OF PAN-SLAVISM 

The term Pan-Slavism has been given to the agitation carried 
on by a great party in Russia, its purpose being the union of the 
Slavic peoples of Europe under Russian rule, as an extensive 
racial empire. This movement originated about 1830, when the 
feeling of race relationship in Russia was stirred up by the revolu- 
tionary movement in Poland. It gained renewed strength from 
the Polish revolution of 1863, and still survives as the slogan of 
an ardent party. The ideals of Pan-Slavism have made their 
way into the Slavic populations of Bohemia, Silesia, Croatia and 
Slavonia, where there is dread of the members of the race losing 
their individuality under the aggressive action of the Austrian, 
German or Hungarian governments. In 1877-78 Russia entered 
into war against Turkey as the champion of the Balkan Slavs. 
A similar movement was that made in 1914, when the independence 
of the Servian Slavs was threatened by Austria. The immediate 
steps taken by Russia to mobilize her forces in protection of the 
Serbs was followed as immediately by a declaration of war on the 
part of the German emperor and the quick plunging of practically 
the whole of Europe into a war. 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 75 

THE CZAR'S PROCLAMATION 

In this connection the proclamation made by the Russian 
Czar to his people on August 3d, possesses much interest, as indi- 
cating his Slavic sentiment. The text is as follows: 

"By the grace of God we, Nicholas II, Emperor and Auto- 
crat of all the Russias, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin- 
land, etc., to all our faithful subjects make known that Russia, 
related by faith and blood to the Slav peoples and faithful to her 
historical traditions, has never regarded their fate with indifference. 

"But the fraternal sentiments of the Russian people for the 
Slavs have been awakened with perfect unanimity and extraor- 
dinary force in these last few days, when Austria-Hungary know- 
ingly addressed to Servia claims unacceptable to an independent 
State. 

"Having paid no attention to the pacific and conciliatory 
reply of the Servian Government and having rejected the benevolent 
intervention of Russia, Austria-Hungary made haste to proceed to 
an armed attack and began to bombard Belgrade, an open place. 

"Forced by the situation thus created to take necessary meas- 
ures of precaution, we ordered the army and the navy put on a 
war footing, at the same time using every endeavor to obtain a 
peaceful solution. Pourparlers were begun amid friendly relations 
with Germany and her ally, Austria, for the blood and the prop- 
erty of our subjects were dear to us. 

"Contrary to our hopes in our good neighborly relations of 
long date, and disregarding our assurances that the mobilization 
measures taken were in pursuance of no object hostile to her, 
Germany demanded their immediate cessation. Being rebuffed 
in this demand, Germany suddenly declared war on Russia. 

"Today it is not only the protection of a country related to 
us and unjustly attacked that must be accorded, but we must 
safeguard the honor, the dignity and the integrity of Russia and 
her position among the Great Powers. 



76 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

"We believe unshakably that all our faithful subjects will 
rise with unanimity and devotion for the defense of Russian soil; 
that internal discord will be forgotten in this threatening hour; 
that the unity of the Emperor with his people will become still 
more close and that Russia, rising like one man, will repulse the 
insolent attack of the enemy. 

"With a profound faith in the justice of our work and with 
a humble hope in omnipotent providence in prayer we call God's 
blessing on holy Russia and her valiant troops. 

"Nicholas." 

Later than this was an appeal made by the Czar to the Poles 
under his rule, asking for their earnest support in the war arising 
from the cause above stated, and promising them the boon which 
the Polish people have long coveted: that of self-government and 
a practical acknowledgment of their national existence. 

THE TEUTONS OP EUROPE 

While the Slavs form the great bulk of the inhabitants of 
eastern Europe, the Teutons, or people of Teutonic race and 
language, are widely spread in the west and north, including the 
German-speaking people of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Switzer- 
land, the English-speaking people of the British Islands, the Scan- 
dinavian-speaking people of Norway and Sweden, the Flemish- 
speaking people of Belgium, and practically the whole people of 
Denmark and Holland. Yet though these are racially related 
there is no such feeling as a Pan-Teutonic sentiment, combining 
them into a racial unity. Instead of community and fraternity, 
a considerable degree of enmity and rivalry exists between the 
several peoples named, especially between the British and Germans. 
Pan-Germanism is not Pan-Teutonism in any proper sense, being 
confined to the several German countries of Europe, and especially 
to the combination of separate states which constitutes the present 
German empire. It is the Teuton considered in this minor sense 




a u 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 77 

that has set himself against the Slav, as a measure of self-defense 
against the torrent of Slavism apparently seeking an outlet in all 
directions. 

Prolific as we know the Anglo-Saxons to have once been and 
as the Germans still appear to be, there are few instances in human 
history of a natural growth of population like that of the Slavs 
in recent years. They have grown to outnumber the Germans 
nearly three to one, and may perhaps do so in the future in a still 
greater proportion. 

This is a scarcely desirable state of affairs in view of the fact 
that the Slavs as a whole are lower and more primitive in char- 
acter and condition than the Germans. The cultivated portion of 
Slavic populations forms a very small proportion in number of 
the whole, and stands far in advance of the abundant multitude 
of peasants and artisans, a vast body of people who are ruled 
chiefly by fear; fear of the State on one side, of the Church on 
the other. 

INTERMINGLING OF RACES 

There has long been an embittered, remorseless, and often 
bloody struggle for supremacy between the Teuton and the Slav, 
yet there has been considerable intermingling of the races, many 
German traders making their way into Russian towns, while multi- 
tudes of Slavic laborers have penetrated into German communities. 
Eastern Prussia has large populations of Slavs, and its Polish sub- 
jects in Posen have been persistently non-assimilable. But only 
within recent times has there arisen a passion to "Russianize" 
all foreign elements in the one nation and on the other hand to 
"Germanize" all similar foreign elements in the other. Austria- 
Hungary is the most remarkable combination of unrelated peoples 
ever got together to make part of a state, and is especially notable 
for its many separate groups of Slavs. Bohemia, for instance, 
has a very large majority of Slavic population, eager to be recog- 
nized as such, and there are Slavic populations somewhat indis- 



78 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

criminately scattered throughout the dual-monarchy, especially in 
Hungary. 

These Slavic populations, however, differ widely in religious 
belief. While largely of the Greek confession of faith, a consider- 
able section of them are Roman Catholics, and many are faithful 
Mohammedans. This difference in religion plays a major part in 
their political relations, a greater one than any feeling of nationality 
and racial unity, and aids greatly in adding to the diversity of con- 
dition and sentiment among these mixed populations. 

THE NATIONS AT WAR 

In the war which sprang so suddenly and startlingly into the 
field of events in 1914 very little of this sentiment of race animos- 
ity appeared. While the German element remained intact in the 
union of Germany and Austria, there was a strange mingling of races 
in the other side of the struggle, that of the Slavic Russian, the 
Teutonic Britain, and the Celtic French. As for Italy, the non- 
Germanic member of the Triple Alliance, it at first wisely declared 
itself out of the war, as one in which it was in no sense concerned 
and under no obligation to enter into from the terms of its alliance. 
Later events tended to bring it into sympathy with the non- 
Germanic side, as a result of enmity to Austria. So the conflict 
became narrowed down to a struggle between Pan-Germanism on 
the one hand and a variety of unrelated racial elements on the 
other. It may be that Emperor William had a secret purpose 
to unite, if possible, all German-speaking peoples under his single 
sway and that Czar Nicholas had similar views regarding a union 
of the Slavs, but as they did not take the world into their 
confidence no one can say what plans and ambitions lay hidden in 
their mental treasure chests. In this connection it is certainly 
of interest that three of the leaders in this five-fold war were 
near relatives, the Czar, the Kaiser and the British King being 
cousins and all of Teutonic blood. This is a result of the inter- 
marriage of royal families in these later days. 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 79 

SPREAD OF TEUTONIC CIVILIZATION 

We cannot better conclude this chapter than by quoting the 
following illuminating statement of the character and progress of 
the Teutonic civilization from the editorial pages of the Philadelphia 
North American: 

"No greater fallacy was ever born of that mother of error, 
War, than that the present cataclysmic conflict in Europe is 
between Teutonic and Slavic civilizations. Ardent German 
patriots, stung to the soul by what appears to be universal sym- 
pathy with the forces allied against the two Kaisers, may well be 
pardoned for a judgment based more on soreness of heart than on 
historic facts. For those of our fellow-citizens whose roots go deep 
into the glorious soil of continental Germany we have only a pro- 
found tolerance, now that they eagerly seek to rally public opinion 
in support of the fatherland. 

"We say 'continental Germany ' because, after all, the empire 
of William II is only a small part of Germany. It was Hugo, 
that Frenchman of the encyclopedic mind, who called Germany 
the 'wellspring of nations.' 'They flow from her as rivers,' said 
he. 'She receives them as the sea.' 

"And it is this very fact which controverts the assertion that 
this war is a conflict between Teuton and Slav. Such an asser- 
tion dismisses France and England as negligibles, or else classifies 
them as Slavic. Russia will undoubtedly prove to be an important 
factor in deciding the war. But that she will have a preponderant 
influence in shaping the future development of European intellect 
and ideals is unthinkable. Whether Russia be on the winning or 
the losing side, the effect of this war on her huge, inert bulk must 
necessarily be for liberalization. On the other hand, a victory 
for the Kaiser will undoubtedly result in strengthening the hands 
of autocracy by glorifying despotism in Germany and putting 
behind it the sentiment of the most efficient nation in the world. 

"But, happily, this is not a conflict between Teutonic and 
Slavic civilizations. For Teutonic civilization is at least as accu- 



80 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

rately represented among the nations arrayed against the Kaiser 
as it is in the ideals which he seeks to impress on Europe. Euro- 
pean civilization is essentially Teutonic. The hordes that came out 
of the Black Forest and erected a new social order on the decayed 
structure of the Roman empire did not keep their ideals between 
the Rhine and the Danube. Teutonic civilization passed into 
Gaul with the Franks, the conquering tribes who proudly blazoned 
their freedom in their name. This they gave to the nation which 
they built on the substructure of Gallic and Latin blood. 
Teutonic civilization overflowed northern Italy with the long- 
bearded warriors whose tribal designation has been corrupted into 
'Lombardy.' 

" Teutonic civilization crossed the Channel and laid the founda- 
tion of England. There it has been preserved in a purer state 
than in any other part of the globe, except in Scandinavia. The 
free ideals which England has spread broadcast throughout the 
world are her heritage from the Saxon freemen who founded a 
new Germany in Britain, while military despots did violence to 
German ideals in central Europe. 

"There is no civilization worthy the name except Teutonic 
civilization. It fills Europe and America; it dominates Asia and 
Africa. Its seat is in London and Paris, and Rome and Brussels, 
and Copenhagen and Stockholm, and New York and Philadelphia, 
no less than in Berlin and Vienna. Because we inherit the blood 
of the Saxons or the Normans or the Franks or the Longobards we 
are all Germans; but more especially are we Germans because 
our most priceless heritage is the free ideals of those free men. 
It is idle, therefore, to talk of prejudice against Germans in this 
conflict. And it is equally futile to argue that Teutonic civiliza- 
tion is at stake in a war in which the most potent factors on either 
side are themselves the ripest product of that civilization watered 
by the most ancient German blood." 

A presentation of the views of leading German- Americans will 
serve at least to show their loyalty to their Fatherland. 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 81 

VIEWS OF GERMAN-AMERICANS 

As regards the inciting cause of the great conflict, German- 
American writers have been strongly disposed to consider it an 
Armageddon of the two great European races, the Slavic and 
Teutonic, despite the fact that Teutons and Slavs were united 
against the German nations, while the latter have hosts of Slavic 
subjects fighting in their cause. These critics appear inclined to 
set aside these seemingly inevitable results of the race mixture in 
Europe and the strength of political issues, commercial rivalries, and 
treaty obligations in dividing the nations of Europe into two great 
hostile bodies irrespective of the Slavic and Germanic question. But 
among the critics of the war were those who set aside these condi- 
tions as minor in actual importance, and saw looming up behind 
the apparent issues that of the battle for supremacy between the 
two great races, that destined to settle the question whether the 
Slavs or the Teutons were to become the ruling powers in Europe. 
This is the theory that has been maintained by the German- 
American writers referred to. Let us quote some of their views. 

The president of the German-American Chamber of Com- 
merce, of New York, has said: 

"The only Power able to checkmate Russia is Gennany, and 
therefore Germany is fighting the battle of civilization and of 
progress against reaction. . . . Strike down German military 
power and German prestige, and nothing but the Czar remains in 
Europe." 

Professor Francke, of Harvard, declared that if Germany 
lost, "her place would be taken by Russia, which, with her teeming 
millions and inexhaustible resources, would become the arbiter of 
Europe." 

"It is race treachery," said Dr. Ernst Richard, president of 
the German-American Peace Society, "for England to fight against 
Gennany and for Russia. . . . The real cause of the war is: 
Shall Europe be ruled by Asiatics or by Europeans, by Slavs or 
by Teutons?" 



82 PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

Dr. Hugo Miinsterberg, of Harvard, a personal friend of the 
Kaiser, wrote: 

"All German good will for peace was doomed because the 
issue between the onrushing Slavic world and the German world 
had grown to an overpowering force. The struggle between the 
two civilizations was imminent. ... At last the chance 
came to strike the long-delayed blow of the Slavic world against 
the German. Both Slavs and Germans are willing to sacrifice 
labor and life for the conservation of their national culture and 
their very existence." 

General von Bernhardi, a noted German military leader, 
wrote three years ago: 

" Russia feels herself the leading power of the Slavic races. 
Pan-Slavism is hard at work. . . . The coming war must be 
a war for our political and national existence." 

In his manifesto to the world, as already given, the Czar 
proclaimed : 

"Russia, related by faith and blood to the Slav peoples, and 
faithful to her historic traditions, has never regarded their fates 
with indifference. The fraternal sentiments of the Russian people 
for the Slavs have been awakened with perfect unanimity and 
extraordinary force." 

The German Emperor took up the issue when he charged the 
strife to Russia's "insatiable nationalism," and exhorted his sub- 
jects to "remember, above all, that you are Germans." 

These views are well worth presentation, as coming from men 
of marked culture and developed powers of thought. It is quite 
possible that they had come to look upon the possible as the 
actual. While animosity between Slav and German doubtless 
had to do with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, and the 
same animosity may have had some share in Austria's rigid demand 
upon Servia, apparently framed for the purpose of precipitating 
a war, the actual war propaganda rapidly spread to embrace other 
issues not included in this original race incentive. 




CHAPTER V 

Europe at the Close of the Eighteenth Century 

End of Medievalism and Beginning of Modernism 

The Age of Feudalism — Issues of the French Revolution — How Napoleon Won 
Fame — Conditions in France and Germany — Spain and Poland — Russia and Turkey — 

Austria and Italy. 

"HEN, after a weary climb, we find ourselves on the sum- 
mit of a lofty mountain, and look back from that com- 
manding altitude over the ground we have traversed, 
what is it that we behold? The minor details of the scenery, many 
of which seemed large and important to us as we passed, are now 
lost to view, and we see only the great and imposing features of the 
landscape, the high elevations, the town-studded valleys, the 
deep and winding streams, the broad forests. It is the same 
when, from the summit of an age, we gaze backward over the 
plain of time. The myriad of petty happenings are lost to sight, 
and we see only the striking events, the critical epochs, the mighty 
crises through which the world has passed. These are the things 
that make true history, not the daily doings in the king's palace 
or the peasant's hut. What we should seek to observe and store 
up in our memories are the turning points in human events, the 
great thoughts which have ripened into noble deeds, the hands of 
might which have pushed the world forward in its career; not 
the trifling occurrences which signify nothing, the passing actions 
which have borne no fruit in human affairs. It is with such turning 
points, such critical periods in modern history, that we are 
here dealing; not to picture the passing bubbles on the stream of 
time, but to point out the great ships which have sailed up that 
stream laden with a noble freight. This is history in its deepest 
and best aspect, and we have set our camera to photograph only 

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84 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

the men who have made and the events which constitute history 
in the phase here outlined. 

THE AGE OF FEUDALISM 

The Medieval Age was the age of feudalism, that remarkable 
system of government based on military organization which held 
western Europe captive for centuries. The state was an army, 
the nobility its captains and generals, the king its commander-in- 
chief, the people its rank and file. As for the horde of laborers, 
they were hardly considered at all. They were the hewers of wood 
and drawers of water for the armed and fighting class, a base, down- 
trodden, enslaved multitude, destitute of rights and privileges, 
their only mission in the world to provide food for and pay taxes 
to their masters. 

France, the country in which the feudal system had its birth, 
was the country in which it had the longest lease of life. There it 
came down to the verge of the nineteenth century with little relief 
from its terrible exactions. We see before us in that country the 
spectacle of a people steeped in misery, crushed by tyranny, robbed 
of all political rights, and without a voice to make their sufferings 
known ; and of an aristocracy lapped in luxury, proud, vain, insolent, 
lavish with the people's money, ruthless with the people's blood, 
and blind to the specter of retribution which was rising higher 
year by year before their eyes. 

ISSUES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

This era of injustice and oppression reached its climax in the 
closing years of the eighteenth century, and went down at length 
in that hideous nightmare of blood and terror known as the French 
Revolution. Frightful as this was, it was unavoidable. The 
pride and privilege of the aristocracy had the people by the throat, 
and only the sword or the guillotine could loosen their hold. 

It was the need of money for the spendthrift throne that pre- 
cipitated the Revolution. For years the indignation of the people 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 85 

had been growing and spreading; for years the authors of the nation 
had been adding fuel to the flame. The voices of Voltaire, Rousseau 
and a dozen others had been heard in advocacy of the rights of man, 
and the people were growing daily more restive under their load. 
But still the lavish waste of money wrung from the hunger and sweat 
of the people went on, until the king and his advisers found their 
coffers empty and were without hope of filling them without a direct 
appeal to the nation at large. 

It was in 1788 that the fatal step was taken. Louis XVI, King 
of France, called a session of the States-General, the Parliament 
of the kingdom, which had not met for more than a hundred years. 
This body was composed of three classes, the representatives of 
the nobility, of the church, and of the people. In all earlier instances 
they had been docile to the mandate of the throne, and the mon- 
arch, blind to the signs of the times, had no thought but that this 
assembly would vote him the money he asked for, fix by law a sys- 
tem of taxation for his future supply, and dissolve at his command. 

He was ignorant of the temper of the common people. They 
had gained a voice at last, and were sure to take the opportunity to 
speak their mind. Their representatives, known as the Third Estate, 
were made up of bold, earnest, indignant men, who asked for bread 
and were not to be put off with a crust. They were twice as numer- 
ous as the representatives of the nobles and the clergy, and thus 
held control of the situation. They were ready to support the 
throne, but refused to vote a penny until the crying evils of the state 
were reformed. They broke loose from the other two Estates, 
established in 1789 a separate parliament under the name of the 
National Assembly, and began that career of revolution which did 
not cease until it had brought monarchy to an end in France and 
set all Europe aflame. 

The Revolution grew, month by month and day by day. New 
and more radical laws were passed; moss-grown abuses were swept 
away in an hour's sitting; the king, who sought to escape, was 
seized and held as a hostage; and war was boldly declared against 



86 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

Austria and Prussia, which showed a disposition to interfere. In 
November, 1792, the French army gained a brilliant victory at 
Jemmapes, in Belgium, which eventually led to the conquest of 
that kingdom by France. It was the first important event in the 
career of victory which in the coming years was to make France 
glorious in the annals of war. 

The hostility of the surrounding nations added to the revolu- 
tionary fury in France. Armies were marching to the rescue of the 
king, and the unfortunate monarch was seized, reviled and insulted 
by the mob, and incarcerated in the prison called the Temple. The 
queen, Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was 
likewise haled from the palace to the prison. In the following 
year, 1793, king and queen alike were taken to the guillotine and 
their royal heads fell into the fatal basket. The Revolution was 
consummated, the monarchy was at an end, France had fallen into 
the hands of the people, and from them it descended into the hands 
of a ruthless and blood-thirsty mob. 

Meanwhile a foreign war was being waged. England had 
formed a coalition with most of the nations of Europe, and France 
was threatened by land with the troops of Holland, Prussia, Austria, 
Spain and Portugal, and by sea with the fleet of Great Britain. The 
incompetency of her assailants saved her from destruction. Her 
generals who lost battles were sent to prison or to the guillotine, 
the whole country rose as one man in defense, and a number of 
brilliant victories drove her enemies from her borders and gave the 
armies of France a position beyond the Rhine. 

HOW NAPOLEON WON FAME 

These wars soon brought a great man to the front, Napoleon 
Bonaparte, a son of Corsica, whose career as a man of recognized 
ability began in 1794, when, under the orders of the National 
Convention — the successor of the National Assembly — he quelled 
the mob in the streets of Paris with loaded cannon and put a final 
end to the Terror which had so long prevailed. 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 87 

Placed at the head of the French army in Italy, Napoleon 
quickly astonished the world by a series of the most brilliant vie- 
tories, defeating the Austrians and the Sardinians wherever he met 
them, seizing Venice, the city of the lagoon, and forcing almost 
all Italy to submit to his arms. A republic was established here 
and a new one in Switzerland, while Belgium and the left bank 
of the Rhine were held by France. 

His wars here at an end, Napoleon's ambition led him to 
Egypt, inspired by great designs which he failed to realize. In 
his absence anarchy arose in France. The five Directors, then 
at the head of the government, had lost all authority, and Napo- 
leon, who had unexpectedly returned, did not hesitate to overthrow 
them and the Assembly which supported them. A new govern- 
ment, with three Consuls at its head, was formed, Napoleon, as 
First Consul, holding almost royal power. Thus France stood in 
1800, at the end of the eighteenth century. 

CONDITIONS IN FRANCE AND GERMANY 

In the remainder of Europe there was nothing to compare 
with the momentous convulsion which had taken place in France. 
England had gone through its two revolutions more than a cen- 
tury before, and its people were the freest of any in Europe. 
Recently it had lost its colonies in America, but it still held in 
that continent the broad domain of Canada, and was building 
for itself a new empire in India, while founding colonies in twenty 
other lands. In commerce and manufactures it entered the nine- 
teenth century as the greatest nation on the earth. The hammer 
and the loom resounded from end to end of the island, mighty 
centers of industry arose where cattle had grazed a century before, 
coal and iron were being torn in great quantities from the depths 
of the earth, and there seemed everywhere an endless bustle and 
whirr. The ships of England haunted all seas and visited the most 
remote ports, laden with the products of her workshops and bring- 
ing back raw material for her factories and looms. Wealth accu- 



88 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

mulated, London became the money market of the world, the 
riches and prosperity of the island kingdom were growing to be 
a parable among the nations of the earth. 

On the continent of Europe, Prussia, destined in time to be- 
come great, had recently emerged from its medieval feebleness, 
mainly under the powerful hand of Frederick the Great, whose 
reign extended until 1786, and whose ambition, daring, and mili- 
tary genius made him a fitting predecessor of Napoleon the Great, 
who so soon succeeded him in the annals of war. Unscrupulous 
in his aims, this warrior king had torn Silesia from Austria, added 
to his kingdom a portion of unfortunate Poland, annexed the prin- 
cipality of East Friesland, and lifted Prussia into a leading posi- 
tion among the European states. 

Germany, now — with the exception of Austria — a compact 
empire, was then a series of disconnected states, variously known 
as kingdoms, principalities, margravates, electorates, and by other 
titles, the whole forming the so-called Holy Empire, though it 
was " neither holy nor an empire." It had drifted down in this 
fashion from the Middle Ages, and the work of consolidation had 
but just begun, in the conquests of Frederick the Great. A host 
of petty potentates ruled the land, whose states, aside from Prussia 
and Austria, were too weak to have a voice in the councils of 
Europe. Joseph II, the titular emperor of Germany, made an 
earnest and vigorous effort to combine its elements into a power- 
ful unit; but he signally failed, and died in 1790, a disappointed 
and embittered man. 

AUSTRIA AND ITALY 

Austria, then far the most powerful of the German states, 
was from 1740 to 1780 under the reign of a woman, Maria Theresa, 
who struggled in vain against her ambitious neighbor, Frederick 
the Great, his kingdom being extended ruthlessly at the expense 
of her imperial dominions. Austria remained a great country, 
however, including Bohemia and Hungary among its domains. 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 89 

It was lord of Lombardy and Venice in Italy, and was destined to 
play an important but unfortunate part in the coming Napoleonic 
wars. 

The peninsula of Italy, the central seat of the great Roman 
Empire, was, at the opening of the nineteenth century, as sadly 
broken up as Germany, a dozen weak states taking the place of 
the one strong one that the good of the people demanded. The 
independent cities of the medieval period no longer held sway, 
and we hear no more of wars between Florence, Genoa, Milan, 
Pisa and Rome; but the country was still made up of minor states 
— Lombardy, Venice and Sardinia in the north, Naples in the 
south, Rome in the center, and various smaller kingdoms and duke- 
doms between. The peninsula was a prey to turmoil and dis- 
sension. Germany and France had made it their fighting ground 
for centuries, Spain had filled the south with her armies, and the 
country had been miserably torn and rent by these frequent wars 
and those between state and state, and was in a condition to wel- 
come the coming of Napoleon, whose strong hand for the time 
promised the blessing of peace and union. 

SPAIN AND POLAND 

Spain, not many centuries before the greatest nation in 
Europe, and, as such, the greatest nation on the globe, had mis- 
erably declined in power and place at the opening of the nineteenth 
century. Under the emperor Charles I it had been united with 
Germany, while its colonies embraced two thirds of the great 
continent of America. Under Philip II it continued powerful in 
Europe, but with his death its decay set in. Intolerance checked 
its growth in civilization, the gold brought from America was 
swept away by more enterprising states, its strength was sapped 
by a succession of feeble monarchs, and from first place it fell 
into a low rank among the nations of Europe. It still held its 
vast colonial area, but this proved a source of weakness rather 
than of strength, and the people of the colonies, exasperated by 



90 EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

injustice and oppression, were ready for the general revolt which 
was soon to take place. Spain presented the aspect of a great 
nation ruined by its innate vices, impoverished by official venality 
and the decline of industry, and fallen into the dry rot of advanc- 
ing decay. 

Of the nations of Europe which had once played a prominent 
part, one was on the point of being swept from the map. The 
name of Poland, which formerly stood for a great power, now 
stands only for a great crime. The misrule of the kings, the tur- 
bulence of the nobility, and the enslavement of the people had 
brought that state into such a condition of decay that it lay like 
a rotten log amid the Powers of Europe. 

The ambitious nations surrounding — Russia, Austria and 
Prussia — took advantage of its weakness, and in 1772 each of them 
seized the portion of Poland that bordered on its own territories. 
In the remainder of the kingdom the influence of Russia grew so 
great that the Russian ambassador at Warsaw became the real 
ruler in Poland. A struggle against Russia began in 1792, Kos- 
ciusko, a brave soldier who had fought under Washington in 
America, being at the head of the patriots. But the weakness 
of the king tied the hands of the soldiers, the Polish patriots left 
their native land in despair, and in the following year Prussia and 
Russia made a further division of the state, Russia seizing a broad 
territory, 96,000 miles in area, with more than 3,000,000 inhabit- 
ants. Prussia received 22,500 square miles, with a population of 
1,100,000. 

In 1794 a new outbreak began. The patriots returned and 
a desperate struggle took place. But Poland was doomed. Suva- 
roff, the greatest of the Russian generals, swept the land with 
fire and sword. Kosciusko fell wounded, crying, " Poland's end 
has come," and Warsaw was taken and desolated by its assailants. 
The patriot was right; the end had come. What remained of 
Poland was divided up between Austria, Prussia and Russia, and 
only a name remained. 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 91 

RUSSIA AND TURKEY 

There are two others of the Powers of Europe of which we 
must speak, Russia and Turkey. Until the seventeenth century 
Russia had been a domain of barbarians, weak and disunited, and 
for a long period the vassal of the savage Mongol conquerors of 
Asia. Under Peter the Great (1689-1725) it rose into power and 
prominence, took its place among civilized states, and began that 
career of conquest and expansion which is still going on. At the 
end of the eighteenth century it was under the rule of Catharine 
II, often miscalled Catharine the Great, who died in 1796, just 
as Napoleon was beginning his career. Her greatness lay in the 
ability of her generals, who defeated Turkey and conquered the 
Crimea, and who added the greater part of Poland to her empire. 
Her strength of mind and decision of character were not shared 
by her successor, Paul I, and Russia entered the nineteenth century 
under the weakest sovereign of the Romanoff line. 

Turkey, once the terror of Europe, sending its armies into 
the heart of Austria, was now confined within the boundaries it 
had long before won, and had begun its long struggle for existence 
with its powerful neighbor, Russia. At the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century it was still a powerful state, with a wide domain 
in Europe, and continued to defy the Christians who coveted its 
territory and sought its overthrow. But the canker-worm of a 
weak and barbarous government was at its heart, while its cruel 
treatment of its Christian subjects exasperated the strong Powers 
of Europe and invited their armed interference. 

As regards the world outside of Europe and America, no part 
of it had yet entered the circle of modern civilization. Africa was 
an almost unknown continent; Asia was little better known; and 
the islands of the Eastern seas were still in process of discovery. 
Japan, which was approaching its period of manumission from bar- 
barism, was still closed to the world, and China lay like a huge 
and helpless bulk, fast in the fetters of conservatism and blind 
self-sufficiency. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Earthquake of Napoleonism 

Its Effect on National Conditions Finally Led to the 

War of 1914 

The Campaign in Italy — The Victory at Marengo — Moreau Wins Glory at Hohen- 
linden — Napoleon the Idol of France — The Consul made Emperor — The Code 
Napoleon — Campaign of 1805 — Battle of Austerlitz — The Gains of the Empire — The 
Conquest of Prussia — Invasion of Poland — Victory at Eylau — Russian Defeat at 
Friedland — Campaign of 1809 — Great Battles around Vienna — Victory at Wagram — 

The Divorce of Josephine. 

THE first fifteen years of the nineteenth century in Europe 
yield us the history of a man rather than of a continent. 
France was the center of Europe; Napoleon, the Corsican, 
was the center of France. All the affairs of all the nations seemed 
to gather around this genius of war. He was respected, feared, 
hated; he had risen with the suddenness of a thundercloud on a 
clear horizon, and flashed the lightnings of victory in the dazzled 
eyes of the nations. All the events of the period were concen- 
trated into one great event, and the name of that event was 
Napoleon. He seemed incarnate war, organized destruction; 
sword in hand, he dominated the nations, and victory sat on his 
banners with folded wings. He was, in a full sense, the man of 
destiny, and Europe was his prey. 

Never has there been a more wonderful career. The earlier 
great conquerors began life at the top; Napoleon began his at the 
bottom. Alexander was a king; Caesar was an aristocrat of the 
Roman republic ; Napoleon rose from the people, and was not even 
a native of the land which became the scene of his exploits. Pure 
force of military genius lifted him from the lowest to the highest 
place among mankind, and for long and terrible years Europe 
shuddered at his name and trembled beneath the tread of his 

(92) 




J 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 93 

marching legions. As for France, he brought it glory, and left 
it ruin and dismay. 

We have briefly epitomized Napoleon's early career, his 
doings in the Revolution, in Italy, and in Egypt, unto the time 
that France's worship of his military genius raised him to the rank 
of First Consul, and gave him in effect the power of a king. No 
one dared question his word, the army was at his beck and call, 
the nation lay prostrate at his feet — not in fear but in admira- 
tion. Such was the state of affairs in France in the closing year 
of the eighteenth century. The Revolution was at an end; the 
Republic existed only as a name; Napoleon was the autocrat of 
France and the terror of Europe. From this point we resume 
the story of his career. 

The First Consul began his reign with two enemies in the 
field, England and Austria. Prussia was neutral, and he had won 
the friendship of Paul, the emperor of Russia, by a shrewd move. 
While the other nations refused to exchange the Russian prisoners 
they held, Napoleon sent home 6,000 of these captives, newly clad 
and armed, under their own leaders, and without demanding ran- 
som. This was enough to win to his side the weak-minded Paul, 
whose delight in soldiers he well knew. 

Napoleon now had but two enemies in arms to deal with. He 
wrote letters to the king of England and the emperor of Austria, 
offering peace. The answers were cold and insulting, asking 
France to take back her Bourbon kings and return to her old 
boundaries. Nothing remained but war. Napoleon prepared for 
it with his usual rapidity, secrecy, and keenness of judgment. 

THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY 

There were two French armies in the field in the spring of 
1800, Moreau commanding in Germany, Massena in Italy. Switzer- 
land, which was occupied by the French, divided the armies of the 
enemy, and Napoleon determined to take advantage of the sepa- 
ration of their forces, and strike an overwhelming blow. He sent 



94 f THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

f 

word to Moreau and Massena to keep the enemy in check at any 
cost, and secretly gathered a third army, whose corps were dis- 
persed here and there, while the Powers of Europe were aware 
only of the army of reserve at Dijon, made up of conscripts and 
invalids. 

Meanwhile the armies in Italy and Germany were doing their 
best to obey orders. Massena was attacked by the Austrians 
before he could concentrate his troops, his army was cut in two, 
Hnd he was forced to fall back upon Genoa, in which city he was 
closely besieged, with a fair prospect of being conquered by star- 
vation if not soon relieved. Moreau was more fortunate. He 
defeated the Austrians in a series of battles and drove them back 
on Ulm, where he blockaded them in their camp. All was ready 
for the great movement which Napoleon had in view. 

Twenty centuries before Hannibal had led his army across the 
great mountain barrier of the Alps, and poured down like an 
avalanche upon the fertile plains of Italy. The Corsican deter- 
mined to repeat this brilliant achievement and emulate Hanni- 
bal's career. Several passes across the mountains seemed favor- 
able to his purpose, especially those of the St. Bernard, the Simpion 
and Mont Cenis. Of these the first was the most difficult; but 
it was much the shorter, and Napoleon determined to lead the 
main body of his army over this ice-covered mountain pass, despite 
its dangers and difficulties. The enterprise was one to deter any 
man less bold than Hannibal or Napoleon, but it was welcome 
to the hardihood and daring of these men, who rejoiced in the 
seemingly impossible and spurned faltering at hardships and perils. 

The task of the Corsican was greater than that of the Car- 
thaginian. He had cannon to transport, while Hannibal's men 
carried only swords and spears. But the genius of Napoleon was 
equal to the task. The cannon were taken from their carriages 
and placed in the hollowed-out trunks of trees, which could be 
dragged with ropes over the ice and snow. Mules were used to 
draw the gun-carriages and the wagon-loads of food and muni- 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 95 

tions of war. Stores of provisions had been placed at suitable 
points along the road. 

The sudden appearance of the French in Italy was an utter 
surprise to the Austrians. They descended like a torrent into the 
valley, seized Ivry, and five days after reaching Italy met and 
repulsed an Austrian force. The divisions which had crossed by 
other passes one by one joined Napoleon. Melas, the Austrian 
commander, was warned of the danger that impended, but refused 
to credit the seemingly preposterous story. His men were scat- 
tered, some besieging Massena in Genoa, some attacking Suchet 
on the Var. His danger was imminent, for Napoleon, leaving 
Massena to starve in Genoa, had formed the design of annihilating 
the Austrian army at one tremendous blow. 

The people of Lombardy, weary of the Austrian yoke, and 
hoping for liberty under the rule of France, received the new- 
comers with transport, and lent them what aid they could. On 
June 9th Marshal Lannes met and defeated the Austrians at 
Montebello, after a hot engagement. "I heard the bones crackle 
like a hailstorm on the roofs," he said. On the 14th, the two 
armies met on the plain of Marengo, and one of the most famous 
of Napoleon's battles began. 

THE VICTORY AT MARENGO 

Napoleon was not ready for the coming battle, and was taken 
by surprise. He had been obliged to break up his army in order 
to guard all the passages open to the enemy. When he entered, 
on the 13th, the plain between the Scrivia and the Bormida, near 
the little village of Marengo, he was ignorant of the movements 
of the Austrians, and was not expecting the onset of Melas, who, 
on the following morning, crossed the Bormida by three bridges, 
and made a fierce assault upon the divisions of Generals Victor 
and Lannes. Victor was vigorously attacked and driven back, 
and Marengo was destroyed by the Austrian cannon. Lannes 
was surrounded by overwhelming numbers, and, fighting furiously, 



96 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

was forced to retreat. In the heat of the battle Bonaparte reached 
the field with his guard and his staff, and found himself in the 
thick of the terrific affray and his army virtually beaten. 

The retreat continued. It was impossible to check it. The 
enemy pressed enthusiastically forward. The army was in im- 
minent danger of being cut in two. But Napoleon, with obstinate 
persistence, kept up the fight, hoping for some change in the 
perilous situation. Melas, on the contrary — an old man, weary 
of his labors, and confident in the seeming victory — withdrew to 
his headquarters at Alessandria, whence he sent off despatches 
to the effect that the terrible Corsican had at length met defeat. 

He did not know his man. Napoleon sent an aide-de-camp 
in all haste after Desaix, one of his most trusted generals, who had 
just returned from Egypt, and whose corps he had detached towards 
Novi. All depended upon his rapid return. Without Desaix the 
battle was lost. Fortunately the alert general did not wait for 
the messenger. His ears caught the sound of distant cannon and, 
scenting danger, he marched back with the utmost speed. 

Napoleon met his welcome officer with eyes of joy and hope. 
"You see the situation," he said, rapidly explaining the state of 
affairs. "What is to be done?" 

"It is a lost battle," Desaix replied. "But there are some 
hours of daylight yet. We have time to win another." 

While he talked with the commander, his regiments had 
nastily formed, and now presented a threatening front to the 
Austrians. Their presence gave new spirit to the retreating troops. 

"Soldiers and friends," cried Napoleon to them, "remember 
that it is my custom to sleep upon the field of battle." 

Back upon their foes turned the retreating troops, with new 
animation, and checked the victorious Austrians. Desaix hur- 
ried to his men and placed himself at their head. 

"Go and tell the First Consul that I am about to charge," 
he said to an aide. "I need to be supported by cavalry." 

A few minutes afterwards, as he was leading his troops irre- 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 97 

sistibly forward, a ball struck him in the breast, inflicting a mortal 
wound. "I have been too long making war in Africa; the bullets 
of Europe know me no more," he sadly said. " Conceal my death 
from the men; it might rob them of spirit." 

The soldiers had seen him fall, but, instead of being dispirited, 
they were filled with rage, and rushed forward furiously to avenge 
their beloved leader. At the same time Kellermann arrived with 
his dragoons, impetuously hurled them upon the Austrian cavalry, 
broke through their columns, and fell upon the grenadiers who were 
wavering before the troops of Desaix. It was a death-stroke. 
The cavalry and infantry together swept them back in a disorderly 
retreat. One whole corps, hopeless of escape, threw down its 
arms and surrendered. The late victorious army was everywhere 
in retreat. The Austrians were crowded back upon the Bormida, 
here blocking the bridges, there flinging themselves into the stream, 
on all sides flying from the victorious French. The cannon stuck 
in the muddy stream and were left to the victors. When Melas, 
apprised of the sudden change in the aspect of affairs, hurried 
back in dismay to the field, the battle was irretrievably lost, and 
General Zach, his representative in command, was a prisoner in 
the hands of the French. The field was strewn with thousands 
of the dead. The slain Desaix and the living Kellermann had 
turned the Austrian victory into defeat and saved Napoleon. 

A few days afterwards, on the 19th, Moreau in Germany won 
a brilliant victory at Hochstadt, near Blenheim, took 5,000 pris- 
oners and twenty pieces of cannon, and forced from the Austrians 
an armed truce which left him master of South Germany. A still 
more momentous armistice was signed by Melas in Italy, by which 
the Austrians surrendered Piedmont, Lombardy, and all their 
territory as far as the Mincio, leaving France master of Italy. 
Melas protested against these severe terms, but Napoleon was 
immovable. 

"I did not begin to make war yesterday," he said. "I know 
your situation. You are out of provisions, encumbered with the 

7 



98 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

dead, wounded, and sick, and surrounded on all sides. I could 
exact everything. I ask only what the situation of affairs demands. 
I have no other terms to offer." 

During the night of the 2d and 3d of July, Napoleon re-entered 
Paris, which he had left less than two months before. Brilliant 
ovations met him on his route, and all France would have pros- 
trated itself at his feet had he permitted. He came crowned with 
the kind of glory which is especially dear to the French, that 
gained on the field of battle. 

MOREAU WINS GLORY AT HOHENLINDEN 

Five months afterwards, Austria having refused to make 
peace without the concurrence of England, and the truce being 
at an end, another famous victory was added to the list of those 
which were being inscribed upon the annals of France. On the 
3d of December the veterans under Moreau met an Austrian army 
under the Archduke John, on the plain of Hohenlinden, across 
which ran the small river Iser. 

The Austrians marched through the forest of Hohenlinden, 
looking for no resistance, and unaware that Moreau's army awaited 
their exit. As they left the shelter of the trees and debouched 
upon the plain, they were attacked by the French in force. Two 
divisions had been despatched to take them in the rear, and 
Moreau held back his men to give them the necessary time. The 
snow was falling in great flakes, yet through it his keen eyes saw 
some signs of confusion in the hostile ranks. 

"Richepanse has struck them in the rear," he said, "the 
time has come to charge." 

Ney rushed forward at the head of his troops, driving the 
enemy in confusion before him. The center of the Austrian army 
was hemmed in between the two forces. Decaen had struck their 
left wing in the rear and forced it back upon the Inn. Their 
right was driven into the valley. The day was lost to the Aus- 
trians, whose killed and wounded numbered 8,000, while the 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 99 

French had taken 12,000 prisoners and eighty-seven pieces of 
cannon. 

The victorious French advanced, sweeping back all opposi- 
tion, until Vienna, the Austrian capital, lay before them, only a 
few leagues away. His staff officers urged Moreau to take pos- 
session of the city. 

"That would be a fine thing to do, no doubt," he said; "but 
to my fancy to dictate terms of peace will be a finer thing still." 

The Austrians were ready for peace at any price. On Christ- 
mas day, 1800, an armistice was signed which delivered to the 
French the valley of the Danube, the country of the Tyrol, a 
number of fortresses, and immense magazines of war materials. 
The war continued in Italy till the end of December, when a truce 
was signed there and the conflict was at an end. 

NAPOLEON THE IDOL OF FRANCE 

The events which immediately followed may be briefly sum- 
marized. Napoleon's brilliant victories had won him a leading 
position in France and made him at once the terror of Europe 
and the admiration of the world. Among the excitable and glory- 
loving people of France he was fairly worshipped. His word was 
law, his requests commands, his rank that of a general and consul, 
his position that of an emperor and autocrat. He had but to 
speak and the whole nation was ready and eager to obey. The 
nineteenth century dawned, leaving France at peace with all the 
countries of Europe except Great Britain, a treaty of peace being 
concluded with Austria in February, 1801. 

So far as Great Britain was concerned the war that still 
existed had to do solely with the troops which Napoleon had left 
in Egypt on his hasty return from that country. These hardened 
veterans proved too much for either the British land forces or 
the Turkish troops, and a treaty was finally made which stipu- 
lated that the French soldiers, 24,000 in number, should be taken 
back to France in English ships, with their arms and ammunition. 



100 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

On March 27, 1802, the treaty of Amiens was signed, establishing 
peace between England and France, and for the first time in years 
France was free from war. Its great general had conquered peace. 

A PERIOD OF PEACE 

The days of leisure which now came to the First Consul — the 
rank at this time held by Napoleon — were by no means days of 
idleness. His mind throbbed with new ideas and new purposes. 
There were relics of the insensate fury of the Revolution that 
needed to be removed, and to these he first applied himself. One 
of the earliest things he did was to restore the Christian worship 
in the churches of France, abolishing the Republican festivals 
which had replaced Christianity with paganism. 

But he did not propose to share his authority with the Pope; 
to establish a new kingship beside his own. He insisted that the 
Church should yield its old-time supremacy, and become a servant 
of, instead of an autocrat over, the French state. Another step 
was to have his term of office extended from ten years, as originally 
fixed, to life. He established himself in the Tuileries, where he 
began to restore the old court customs and etiquette abolished 
by the Revolution, and made an effort to re-establish the customs 
and usages of the monarchy. The royal-like customs and elegance 
established made the First Consul's court resemble that of the 
deposed monarchy. In truth he had made himself king in every- 
thing but in name. However, the new liberties and privileges 
which the people had won by the Revolution were not interfered 
with. With these the peasant who had made himself monarch 
was in full sympathy. Feudalism had been definitely overthrown, 
and Napoleon's supremacy in the state was a benevolent one that 
recognized the popular freedom. 

THE CONSUL MADE EMPEROR 

He was not without enemies — bitter ones, many of them. 
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THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 101 

see that the republic they had founded was being undermined by 
this new popular favorite. Plots were formed, attempts made 
upon his life, and even Moreau, the victor at Hohenlinden, was 
accused of being in collusion with the conspirators and was ban- 
ished from France. Napoleon fought them with a ruthlessness 
equal to their own. The Duke d'Enghien, a royalist French 
nobleman, believed by Napoleon to be deeply concerned in the 
royalist conspiracies, ventured too near the borders of France and 
was seized and taken to Paris by agents of the First Consul. Here, 
without form of law or opportunity for defense, he was at once 
executed. This was an act of lawless power which excited more 
indignation that anything in Napoleon's career, and one which 
historians of the present day do not hesitate to characterize as 
murder. 

The culmination of Napoleon's ambition came in 1804, when, 
like Caesar, the Roman conqueror, he sought the crown as a reward 
for his victories, and was elected Emperor of the French by an 
almost unanimous vote. The Pope was obliged to come to Paris 
at the fiat of the new autocrat and to anoint him as emperor, 
thus giving the sanction of the Church to his new dignity. 

The old insignia of royalty were at once restored, the emperor 
surrounded himself with a brilliant court, brought back the dis- 
carded titles of nobility, and sought to banish every trace of 
republican simplicity. But the new royalty was not one of the 
old type. Feudalism was definitely at an end. The world of 
Europe entered upon its nineteenth-century career with that effete 
and abominable system banished from France and with few foot- 
holds elsewhere. The new empire was one founded upon modern 
lines, one called into existence by the votes of a free people, not 
resting upon a nation of slaves. 

THE CODE NAPOLEON 

During his brief respite from war Napoleon's activity was 
great, his statesmanship notable. Great public works, monuments 



102 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

to his glory, were constructed, wide schemes of public improvement 
were entered upon, and important changes were made in the finan- 
cial system that provided the great sums needed for these enter- 
prises. The most important of these evidences of intellectual 
activity was the Code Napoleon, the first organized code of French 
law and still the basis of jurisprudence in France. This, first pro- 
mulgated in 1801 as the civil code of France, had its title changed 
to Code Napoleon in 1804, and as such stands as one of the greatest 
monuments to the mental capacity of this extraordinary man. 

The period of peace ended in 1803, when Great Britain, 
Napoleon's most persistent foe, again declared war against France. 
Hitherto the sea had protected his British foes from the force of 
the great Corsican's arms. But, angered by their persistent 
enmity, he now determined to play the role of William of Nor- 
mandy and attack them on their own shores. 

A great fleet was gathered, a powerful army got ready, the 
army numbering 120,000 men with 10,000 horses, the fleet 1,800 
gunboats of various types. It was a threatening enterprise and 
might have been a successful one, under the leadership of Napo- 
leon, but for the shrewd policy of William Pitt, then Prime Min- 
ister, who organized a coalition in Europe which gave the emperor 
a new use for his army. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1805 

The Austrians, who had been so often defeated, were again 
quickly in the field, but they were not quick enough for the alert 
Napoleon, whose troops were at once set in motion from all 
quarters towards the Rhine. Early in October, 1805, the French 
held both banks of the Danube, and were handled so skilfully 
that the Austrian army under General Mack, an incapable com- 
mander, was surrounded in the fortress of Ulm and forced to sur- 
render as prisoners of war; 23,000 soldiers and eighteen generals 
were held as captives by the victorious French. Another army, 
sent to Italy, was met and defeated by Marshal Massena. 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 103 

Meanwhile the King of Prussia, whose territory had been 
crossed by the French without his consent, had joined the coali- 
tion against Napoleon, had given free passage to the troops of 
Sweden and Russia, members of the coalition, and a powerful 
army was despatched to Austria. The French under Murat had 
reached and occupied Vienna, forcing the Austrian emperor to flee 
for safety, and thence advanced into Moravia. Here, on the 1st 
of December, 1805, the two armies, both concentrated in their 
fullest strength (92,000 of the allies to 70,000 French) came face 
to face on the field of Austerlitz, where on the following day was 
to be fought one of the memorable battles in the history of the 
world. 

BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ 

The Emperor Alexander had joined Francis of Austria, and 
the two monarchs, with their staff officers, occupied the castle 
and village of Austerlitz. Their troops hastened to occupy the 
plateau of Pratzen, which Napoleon had designedly left free. 
His plans of battle were already fully made. He had, with the 
intuition of genius, foreseen the probable maneuvers of the enemy, 
and had left open for them the position which he wished them 
to occupy. He even announced their movement in a proclama- 
tion to his troops. 

"The positions that we occupy are formidable," he said, "and 
while the enemy march to turn my right they will present to me 
their flank." 

This movement to the right was indeed the one that had been 
decided upon by the allies, with the purpose of cutting off the 
road to Vienna by isolating numerous corps dispersed in Austria 
and Styria. It had been shrewdly divined by Napoleon in choos- 
ing his ground. 

The fact that the 2d of December was the anniversary of the 
coronation of the emperor filled the French troops with ardor. 
They celebrated it by making great torches of the straw which 



104 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

formed their bedg. and illuminating their camp. Early the next 
morning the allies began their projected movement. To the joy 
of Napoleon his prediction was fulfilled: they were advancing 
towards his right. He felt sure that the victory was in his hands. 

He held his own men in readiness while the line of the enemy 
deployed. The sun was rising, its rays gleaming through a mist, 
which dispersed as it rose higher. It now poured its brilliant 
beams across the field, the afterward famous "sun of Austerlitz." 
The movement of the allies had the effect of parti}' withdrawing 
their troops from the plateau of Pratzen. At a signal from the 
emperor the strongly concentrated center of the French army 
moved forward in a dense mass, directing their march towards the 
plateau, which they made all haste to occupy. They had reached 
the foot of the hill before the rising mist revealed them to the 
enemy. 

The two emperors watched the movement without divining 
its intent. "See how the French climb the height without stay- 
ing to reply to our fire," said Prince Czartoryski, who stood near 
them. 

The emperors were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. 
Their marching columns, thrown out one after another on the 
slope, found themselves suddenly checked in their movement, 
and cut off from the two wings of the army. The allied force had 
been pierced in its center, which was flung back in disorder, in 
spite of the efforts of Kutusoff to send it aid. At the same time 
Davout faced the Russians on the right, and Murat and Lannes 
attacked the Russian and Austrian squadrons on the left, while 
Kellermann's light cavalry dispersed the squadrons of the Uhlans. 

The Russian guard, checked in its movement, turned towards 
Pratzen, ^in a desperate effort to retrieve the fortune of the day. 
It was incautiously pursued by a French battalion, which soon 
found itself isolated and in danger. Napoleon perceived its peril 
and hastily sent Rapp to its support, with the Mamelukes and 
the chasseurs of the guard. They rushed forward with energy 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 105 

and quickly drove back the enemy, Prince Repnin remaining a 
prisoner in their hands. 

The day was lost to the allies. Everywhere disorder prevailed 
and their troops were in retreat. An isolated Russian division 
threw down its arms and surrendered. Two columns were forced 
back beyond the marshes. The soldiers rushed in their flight 
upon the ice of the lake, which the intense cold had made thick 
enough to bear their weight. 

And now a terrible scene was witnessed. War is merciless; 
death is its aim; the slaughter of an enemy by any means is looked 
upon as admissible. By Napoleon's order the French cannon 
were turned upon the lake. Their plunging balls rent and splint- 
ered the ice under the feet of the crowd of fugitives. Soon it 
broke with a crash, and the unhappy soldiers, with shrill cries of 
despair, sunk to death in the chilling waters beneath, thousands 
of them perishing. It was a frightful expedient — one that would 
be deemed a crime in any other code than the merciless one of war. 

A portion of the allied army made a perilous retreat along a 
narrow embankment which separated the two lakes of Melnitz 
and Falnitz, their exposed causeway swept by the fire of the 
French batteries. Of the whole army, the corps of Prince Bag- 
ration alone withdrew in order of battle. 

All that dreadful day the roar of battle had resounded. At 
its close the victorious French occupied the field; the allied army 
was pouring back in disordered flight, the dismayed emperors in 
its midst; thousands of dead covered the fatal field, the groans 
of thousands of wounded men filled the air. More than 30,000 
prisoners, including twenty generals, remained in Napoleon's hands, 
and with them a hundred and twenty pieces of cannon and forty 
flags, including the standards of the Imperial Guard of Russia. 

THE GAINS OF THE EMPIRE 

The defeat was a crushing one. Napoleon had won the 
most famous of his battles. The Emperor Francis, in deep depres- 



106 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

sion, asked for an interview and an armistice. Two days after- 
ward the emperors — the conqueror and the conquered — met, and 
an armistice was granted. While the negotiations for peace con- 
tinued Napoleon shrewdly disposed of the hostility of Prussia by 
offering the state of Hanover to that power and signing a treaty 
with the king. On December 26th a treaty of peace between 
France and Austria was signed at Presburg. The Emperor 
Francis yielded all his remaining possessions in Italy, and also the 
Tyrol, the Black Forest, and other districts in Germany, which 
Napoleon presented to his allies, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and 
Baden, whose monarchs were still more closely united to Napo- 
leon by marriages between their children and relatives of him- 
self and his wife Josephine. Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were made 
kingdoms, and Baden was raised in rank to a grand-duchy. The 
three months' war was at an end. Austria had paid dearly for 
her subserviency to England. Of the several late enemies of 
France, only two remained in arms, Russia and England. And 
in the latter Pitt, Napoleon's greatest enemy, died during the 
next month, leaving the power in the hands of Fox, an admirer 
of the Corsican. Napoleon was at the summit of his glory and 
success. 

The victory of Austerlitz left Germany in Napoleon's hands, 
and the remodeling of the map of Europe was one of the greatest 
that has ever taken place at any one time. Kingdoms were 
formed and placed under Napoleon's brothers or favorite generals. 
His changes in the states of Germany were numerous and radical. 
Those of south and west Germany were organized into the Con- 
federation of the Rhine, under his protection. Many of the small 
principalities were suppressed and their territories added to the 
larger states. As to the "Holy Roman Empire," a once powerful 
organization which had long since sunk into a mere shadow, it 
finally ceased to exist. The empire of France was extended by 
these and other changes until it spread over Italy, the Nether- 
lands and the south and west of Germany. 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 107 

Changes so great as this could scarcely be made without excit- 
ing bitter opposition. Prussia had been seriously affected by Napo- 
leon's map-making, and in the end its king, Frederick William, 
became so exasperated that he broke off all communication with 
France and began to prepare for war. 

THE CONQUEST OF PKUSSIA 

It is by no means impossible that Napoleon had been work- 
ing for this. It is certain that he was quick to take advantage of 
it. While the Prussian king was slowly collecting his troops and 
war material, the veterans of France were already on the march 
and approaching the borders of Prussia. The hasty levies of 
Frederick William were no match for the war-hardened French, 
the Russians failed to come to their aid, and on the 4th of October, 
1806, the two armies met at Jena. 

The Prussians proved incapable of withstanding the im- 
petuous attack of the French and were soon broken and in panic 
and flight. Nothing could stop them. Reinforcements coming up, 
20,000 in number, were thrown across their path, but in vain, 
being swept away by the fugitives and pushed back by the 
triumphant pursuers. 

At the same time another battle was in progress near Auer- 
stadt between Marshal Davout and the forces of the Duke of 
Brunswick. This, too, ended in victory for the French. The 
king had been with the duke and was borne back by the flying 
host, the two bodies of fugitives finally coalescing. In that one 
fatal day Frederick William had lost his army and placed his 
kingdom in jeopardy. "They can do nothing but gather up the 
debris" said Napoleon. 

It took but a brief period to complete the utter dispersal of 
the Prussian forces, and on October 27th Napoleon entered in 
triumph the city of Berlin, the Prussian capital. The whole 
country was at his mercy, and its chief cities were heavily taxed 
to meet the expenses of the war, while their treasures of art and 



108 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

science were carried off to enrich the museums and galleries of 
France. All English merchandise found in ports and warehouses 
was seized, and a heavy war contribution put upon the state. 
As Napoleon could not reach the British islands, he now estab- 
lished a continental embargo upon British trade. This war upon 
commerce, in which Great Britain took part in reprisal, caused 
great distress, not only in Europe but in America as well, one of 
its final effects being the American war of 1812. 

INVASION OF POLAND 

Napoleon, not content while an enemy remained in arms, 
with inflexible resolution resolved to make an end of all his adver- 
saries and meet in battle the great empire of the north, which 
had remained in arms against him since the battle of Austerlitz. 
The Russian armies then occupied Poland, whose people, burning 
under the oppression and injustice to which they had been sub- 
jected, gladly welcomed Napoleon's specious offers to bring them 
back their lost liberties, and rose in his aid when he marched his 
armies into their country. 

Here the French, on marching against their foe, found them- 
selves exposed to unlooked-for privations. They had dreamed of 
abundant stores of food, but discovered that the country they had 
invaded was, in this wintry season, a desert, a series of frozen 
solitudes incapable of feeding an army, and holding no reward for 
them other than that of battle with and victory over the hardy 
Russians. 

Napoleon advanced to Warsaw, the Polish capital. The 
Russians were entrenched behind the Narew and the Ukra. The 
French continued to advance. The Russians were beaten and 
forced back in every battle, several furious encounters took place, 
and Alexander's army fell back upon the Pregel, intact and power- 
ful still, despite the French successes. The wintry chill and the 
character of the country seriously interfered with Napoleon's 
plans, the troops being forced to make their way through thick 




L-dUL 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 109 

and rain-soaked forests, and march over desolate and marshy 
plains. The winter of the north fought against them like a strong 
army and many of them fell dead without a battle. Warlike 
movements became almost impossible to the troops of the south, 
though the hardy northeners, accustomed to the climate, con- 
tinued their military operations. 

VICTORY AT EYLAU 

By the end of January the Russian army was evidently 
approaching in force, and immediate action became necessary. 
The cold increased. The mud was converted into ice. On 
January 30, 1807, Napoleon left Warsaw and marched in search 
of the enemy. General Benningsen retreated, avoiding battle, 
and on the 7th of February entered the small town of Eylau, from 
which his troops were pushed by the approaching French. He 
encamped outside the town, the French in and about it; it was 
evident that a great battle was at hand. 

The weather was cold. Snow lay thick upon the ground and 
still fell in great flakes. A sheet of ice covering some small lakes 
formed part of the country upon which the armies were encamped, 
but was thick enough to bear their weight. It was a chill, inhos- 
pitable country to which the demon of war had come. 

Before daybreak on the 8th Napoleon was in the streets of 
Eylau, forming his line of battle for the coming engagement. 
Soon the artillery of both armies opened, and a rain of cannon 
balls began to decimate the opposing ranks. The Russian fire 
was concentrated on the town, which was soon in flames. That 
of the French was directed against a hill which the emperor deemed 
it important to occupy. The two armies, nearly equal in numbers, 
— the French having 75,000 to the Russian 70,000 — were but a 
short distance apart, and the slaughter from the fierce cannonade 
was terrible. 

A series of movements on both sides began, Davout march- 
ing upon the Russian flank and Augereau upon the center, while 



110 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

the Russians maneuvered as if with a purpose to outflank the 
French on the left. At this interval an unlooked-for obstacle 
interfered with the French movements, a snow-fall beginning, 
which grew so dense that the armies lost sight of each other, and 
vision was restricted to a few feet. In this semi-darkness the 
French columns lost their way, and wandered about uncertainly. 
For half an hour the snow continued to fall. When it ceased the 
French army was in a critical position. Its cohesion was lost; 
its columns were straggling about and incapable of supporting 
one another; many of its superior officers were wounded. The 
Russians, on the contrary, were on the point of executing a vig- 
orous turning movement, with 20,000 infantry, supported by 
cavalry and artillery. 

"Are you going to let me be devoured by these people?" cried 
Napoleon to Murat, his eagle eye discerning the danger. 

He ordered a grand charge of all the cavalry of the army, 
consisting of eighty squadrons. With Murat at their head, they 
rushed like an avalanche on the Russian lines, breaking through 
the infantry and dispersing the cavalry who came to its support. 
The Russian infantry suffered severely from this charge, its two 
massive lines being rent asunder, while the third fell back upon a 
wood in the rear. Finally Davout, whose movement had been 
hindered by the weather, reached the Russian rear, and in an im- 
petuous charge drove them from the hilly ground which Napoleon 
wished to occupy. 

The battle seemed lost to the Russians. They began a retreat, 
leaving the ground strewn thickly with their dead and wounded. 
But at this critical moment a Prussian force, some 8,000 strong, 
which was being pursued by Marshal Ney, arrived on the field 
and checked the French advance and the Russian retreat. Ben- 
ningsen regained sufficient confidence to prepare for final attack, 
when he was advised of the approach of Ney, who was two or 
three hours behind the Prussians. At this discouraging news a 
final retreat was ordered. 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 111 

The French were left masters of the field, though little attempt 
was made to pursue the menacing columns of the enemy, who 
withdrew in military array. It was a victory that came near 
being a defeat, and which, indeed, both sides claimed. Never 
before had Napoleon been so stubbornly withstood. His success 
had been bought at a frightful cost, and Konigsberg, the old Prus- 
sian capital, the goal of his march, was still covered by the com- 
pact columns of the allies. The men were in no condition to pur- 
sue. Food was wanting, and they were without shelter from the 
wintry chill. Ney surveyed the terrible scene with eyes of gloom. 
"What a massacre," he exclaimed; "and without result!" 

So severe was the exhaustion on both sides from this great 
battle that it was four months before hostilities were resumed. 
Meanwhile Danzig, which had been strongly besieged, surrendered, 
and more than 30,000 men were released to reinforce the French 
army. Negotiations for peace went slowly on, without result, 
and it was June before hostilities again became imminent. 

Eylau, which was now Napoleon's headquarters, presented 
a very different aspect at this season from that of four months 
before. Then all was wintry desolation; now the country pre- 
sented a beautiful scene of green woodland, shining lakes, and 
attractive villages. The light corps of the army were in motion 
in various directions, their object being to get between the Rus- 
sians and their magazines and cut off retreat to Konigsberg. On 
June 13th Napoleon, with the main body of his army, marched 
towards Friedland, a town on the River Alle, in the vicinity of 
Konigsberg, towards which the Russians were moving. Here, 
crossing the Alle, Benningsen drove from the town a regiment of 
French hussars which had occupied it, and fell with all his force 
on the corps of Marshal Lannes, which alone had reached the field. 

Lannes held his ground with his usual heroic fortitude, while 
sending successive messengers for aid to the emperor. Noon had 
passed when Napoleon and his staff reached the field at full gallop, 
far in advance of the troops. He surveyed the field with eyes of 



112 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

hope. "It is the 14th of June, the anniversary of Marengo," he 
said; "it is a lucky day for us." 

"Give me only a reinforcement," cried Oudinot, "and we will 
cast all the Russians into the water." 

This seemed possible. Benningsen's troops were perilously 
concentrated within a bend of the river. Some of the French gen- 
erals advised deferring the battle till the next day, as the hour 
was late, but Napoleon was too shrewd to let an advantage escape 
him. 

"No," he said, "one does not surprise the enemy twice in such 
a blunder." He swept with his field-glass the masses of the enemy 
before him, then seized the arm of Marshal Ney. "You see the 
Russians and the town of Friedland," he said. "March straight 
forward; seize the town; take the bridges, whatever it may cost. 
Do not trouble yourself with what is taking place around you. 
Leave that to me and the army." 

The troops were coming in rapidly, and marching to the places 
assigned them. The hours moved on. It was half-past five in 
the afternoon when the cannon soimded the signal of the coming 
fray. Meanwhile Ney's march upon Friedland had begim. A 
terrible fire from the Russians swept his ranks as he advanced. 
Aided by cavalry and artillery, he reached a stream defended by 
the Russian Imperial Guard. Before those picked troops the 
French recoiled in temporary disorder; but the division of General 
Dupont, marching briskly up, broke the Russian guard, and the 
pursuing French rushed into the town. In a short time it was in 
flames and the fugitive Russians were cut off from the bridges, 
which were seized and set on fire. 

The Russians made a vigorous effort to recover their lost 
ground, General Gortschakoff endeavoring to drive the French 
from the town, and other corps making repeated attacks on the 
French center. All their efforts were in vain. The French colurfms 
continued to advance. By ten o'clock the battle was at an end. 
Many of the Russians had been drowned in the stream, and the 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 113 

field was covered with their dead, whose numbers were estimated 
by the boastful French bulletins at 15,000 or 18,000 men, while 
they made the improbable claim of having lost no more than 500 
dead. Konigsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by 
Marshal Soult, and yielded the French a vast quantity of food, 
and a large store of military supplies which had been sent from 
England for Russian use. The King of Prussia had lost the whole 
of his possessions with the exception of the single town of Memel. 

Victorious as Napoleon had been, he had found the Russians 
no contemptible foes. At Eylau he had come nearer defeat than 
ever before in his career. He was quite ready, therefore, to listen 
to overtures of peace, and early in July a notable interview took 
place between him and the Czar of Russia at Tilsit, on the Nie- 
men, the two emperors meeting on a raft in the center of the 
stream. What passed between them is not known. Some think 
that they arranged for a division of Europe between their respective 
empires, Alexander taking all the east and Napoleon all the west. 
However that was, the treaty of peace, signed July 8th, was a dis- 
astrous one for the defeated Prussian king, who was punished for 
his temerity in seeking to fight Napoleon alone by the loss of more 
than half his kingdom, while in addition a heavy war indemnity 
was laid upon his depleted realms. 

He was forced to yield all the countries between the Rhine 
and the Elbe, to consent to the establishment of a Dukedom of 
Warsaw, under the supremacy of the king of Saxony, and to the 
loss of Danzig and the surrounding territory, which were converted 
into a free state. A new kingdom, named Westphalia, was 
founded by Napoleon, made up of the territory taken from Prussia 
and the states of Hesse, Brunswick and South Hanover. His 
younger brother, Jerome Bonaparte, was made its king. It was 
a further step in his policy of founding a western empire. 

Louisa, the beautiful and charming queen of Frederick William, 
sought Tilsit, hoping by the seduction of her beauty and grace of 
address to induce Napoleon to mitigate his harsh terms. But in 



114 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

vain she brought to bear upon him all the resources of her intellect 
and her attractive charm of manner. He continued cold and 
obdurate, and she left Tilsit deeply mortified and humiliated. 

CAMPAIGN OF 1809 

We shall summarize more briefly what followed. The events, 
however, were of much interest, and take a prominent part in 
the annals of the great Napoleonic campaigns. Indignation 
of the Austrians at the arbitrary acts of the conqueror became in 
time so intense that, in April, 1809, they again declared war 
against France, despite the many defeats they had experienced. 
This war led to an interesting struggle in the Tyrol, the Austrian 
section of the Alps, in which Andreas Hofer, a valiant leader of the 
mountaineers, for a time gained freedom from French dominion. 
But their independence was of short duration, and their courageous 
leader was taken and remorselessly put to death for daring to seek 
freedom for his country. 

The French campaign in Austria was, as usual, one of great 
speed — a remarkable rapidity in those days preceding the rail- 
way. Yet the Archduke Charles, who led the Austrians, was 
equally rapid in his movements, and the widely-spread French 
army soon found itself in imminent risk of being cut in two by 
the Austrians. This peril Napoleon perceived in reaching the front, 
and he wrote urging Massena forward. 

" Never was there need for more rapidity of movement than 
now. Activity, activity, speed!" was the burden of his letter. 

A brief hesitation robbed the Archduke of the advantage he 
had gained. The rapidly concentrating French army fell upon 
his troops, defeated them in a series of engagements, relieved 
Davout before Ratisbon, captured that town, and forced the Arch- 
duke to retreat into Bohemia. This brief but active campaign 
gave Napoleon, according to his despatch, 50,000 prisoners, a 
hundred cannon, and a large quantity of other military material. 
In Italy the French were less successful, meeting with defeat at 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 115 

the hands of Archduke John, commander of the Austrian army in 
that country. General McDonald, the French commander, took 
up a defensive position, and on the first of May was gratified to 
see indications of withdrawal of the enemy. 

"Victory in Germany!" he cried. "Now is our time for a 
forward march." 

He was correct, the Archduke John had been recalled in haste 
to aid his brother Charles in the defense of Vienna, on which the 
French were advancing in force. 

GREAT BATTLES AROUND VIENNA 

The campaign now became a race for the capital of Austria. 
During its progress several conflicts took place, in each of which 
the French won. The city was defended by the Archduke Maxi- 
milian with an army of over 15,000 men, but he found it expedient 
to withdraw, and on the 13th the troops of Napoleon occupied 
the Austrian capital. Meanwhile Charles had concentrated 
his troops and was marching hastily towards the opposite side 
of the Danube, whither his brother John was advancing from 
Italy. 

It was important for Napoleon to strike a blow before this 
junction could be made. He resolved to cross the Danube in the 
suburbs of the capital itself, and attack the Austrians before they 
were reinforced. In the vicinity of Vienna the channel of the 
river is broken by many islets. At the island of Lobau, the point 
chosen for the attempt, the river is broad and deep, but Lobau 
is separated from the opposite bank by only a narrow branch, 
while two smaller islets offered themselves as aids in the con- 
struction of bridges, there being four channels, over each of which 
a bridge was thrown. 

The work was a difficult one. The Danube, swollen by the 
melting snows, imperiled the bridges, erected with difficulty and 
braced by insufficient cordage. But despite this peril the crossing 
began, and on May 20th Marshal Massena reached the other side 



116 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

and posted his troops in the two villages of Aspern and Essling, 
and along a deep ditch that connected them. 

As yet only the vanguard of the Austrians had arrived. Other 
corps soon appeared, and by the afternoon of the 21st the entire 
army, from 70,000 to 80,000 strong, faced the French, still only 
half their number, and in a position of extreme peril, for the bridge 
over the main channel of the river had broken during the night, 
and the crossing was cut off in its midst. 

Napoleon, however, was straining every nerve to repair the 
bridge, and Massena and Lannes, in command of the advance, 
fought like men fighting for their lives. The Archduke Charles, 
the ablest soldier Napoleon had yet encountered, hurled his troops 
in masses upon Aspern, which covered the bridge to Lobau. Sev- 
eral times it was taken and retaken, but the French held on with 
a death grip, all the strength of the Austrians seeming insufficient 
to break the hold of Lannes upon Essling. An advance in force, 
which nearly cut the communication between the two villages, 
was checked by an impetuous cavalry charge, and night fell, leav- 
ing the situation unchanged. 

At dawn of the next day more than 70,000 French had crossed 
the stream; Marshal Davout's corps, with part of the artillery 
and most of the ammunition, being still on the right bank. At this 
critical moment the large bridge, against which the Austrians had 
sent fireships, boats laden with stone and other floating missiles, 
broke for the third time, and the engineers of the French army 
were again forced to the most strenuous and hasty exertions for 
its repair. 

The struggle of the day that had just begun was one of 
extraordinary valor and obstinacy. Men went down in multi- 
tudes; now the Austrians, now the French, were repulsed; the 
Austrians, impetuously assailed, slowly fell back; and Lannes was 
preparing for a vigorous movement designed to pierce their center, 
when word was brought Napoleon that the great bridge had again 
yielded to the floating debris, carrying with it a regiment of cuiras- 




NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 




cd.S 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 117 

siers, and cutting off the supply of ammunition. Lannes was at 
once ordered to fall back upon the villages, and simultaneously 
the Austrians made a powerful assault on the French center, which 
was checked with great difficulty. Five times the charge was 
renewed, and though the enemy was finally repelled, it became 
evident that Napoleon, for the first time in his career, had met 
with a decided check. Night fell at length, and reluctantly he 
gave the order to retreat. He had lost more than a battle, he 
had lost the brilliant soldier Lannes, who fell with a mortal wound. 
Back to the island of Lobau marched the French; Massena, in 
charge of the rear-guard, bringing over the last regiments in safety. 
More than 40,000 men lay dead and wounded on that fatal field, 
which remained in Austrian hands. Napoleon, at last, was obliged 
to acknowledge a repulse, if not a defeat, and the nations of Europe, 
when the news reached them, held up their heads with renewed 
hope. It had been proved that the Corsican was not invincible. 
Some of Napoleon's generals, deeply disheartened, advised an 
immediate retreat, but the emperor had no thought of such a 
movement. It would have brought a thousand disasters in its 
train. On the contrary, he held the island of Lobau with a strong 
force, and brought all his resources to bear on the construction 
of a bridge that would defy the current of the stream. At the 
same time reinforcements were hurried forward, until by the 1st 
of July he had around Vienna an army of 150,000 men. The 
Austrians had probably from 135,000 to 140,000. The archduke 
had, moreover, strongly fortified the positions of the recent battle, 
expecting the attack upon them to be resumed. 

VICTORY AT WAGRAM 

Napoleon had no such intention. He had selected the heights 
ranging from Neusiedl to Wagram, strongly occupied by the Aus- 
trians, but not fortified, as his point of attack, and on the night 
of July 4th bridges were thrown from the island of Lobau to the 
mainland, and the army which had been gathering for several 



118 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

days on the island began its advance. It moved as a whole 
against the heights of Wagram, occupying Aspern and Essling in 
its advance. 

The great battle began on the succeeding day. It was hotly 
contested at all points, but attention may be confined to the 
movement against the plateau of Wagram, which had been en- 
trusted to Marshal Davout. The height was gained after a des- 
perate struggle; the key of the battle-field was held by the French; 
the Austrians, impetuously assailed at every point, and driven from 
every point of vantage, began a retreat. The Archduke Charles 
had anxiously looked for the coming of his brother John, with 
the army under his command. He waited in vain, the laggard 
prince failed to appear, and retreat became inevitable. The battle 
had already lasted ten hours, and the French held all the strong 
points of the field; but the Austrians withdrew slowly and in 
battle array, presenting a front that discouraged any effort to 
pursue. There was nothing resembling a rout. 

The Archduke Charles retreated to Bohemia. His forces 
were dispersed during the march, but he had 70,000 men with 
him when Napoleon reached his front at Znaim, on the road to 
Prague, on the 11th of July. Further hostilities were checked by 
a request for a truce, preliminary to a peace. The battle, already 
begun, was stopped, and during the night an armistice was signed. 
The vigor of the Austrian resistance and the doubtful attitude of 
the other Powers made Napoleon willing enough to treat for terms. 

The peace, which was finally signed at Vienna, October 14, 
1809, took from Austria 50,000 square miles of territory and 
3,000,000 inhabitants, together with a war contribution of $85,- 
000,000, while her army was restricted to 150,000 men. The over- 
throw of the several outbreaks which had taken place in north 
Germany, the defeat of a British expedition against Antwerp, 
and the suppression of the revolt in the Tyrol, ended all organized 
opposition to Napoleon, who was once more master of the Euro- 
pean situation. 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 119 

THE DIVORCE OF JOSEPHINE 

Raised by this signal success to the summit of his power, 
lord paramount of western Europe, only one thing remained to 
trouble the mind of the victorious emperor. His wife, Josephine, 
was childless; his throne threatened to be left without an heir. 
Much as he had seemed to love his wife, the companion of his early 
days, when he was an unknown and unconsidered subaltern, seek- 
ing humbly enough for military employment in Paris, yet ambition 
and the thirst for glory were always the ruling passions in his 
nature, and had now grown so dominant as to throw love and 
wifely devotion utterly into the shade. He resolved to set aside 
his wife and seek a new bride among the princesses of Europe, 
hoping in this way to leave an heir of his own blood as successor 
to his imperial throne. 

Negotiations were entered into with the courts of Europe to 
obtain a daughter of one of the proud royal houses as the spouse 
of the plebeian emperor of France. No maiden of less exalted 
rank than a princess of the imperial families of Russia or Austria 
was high enough to meet the ambitious aims of this proud lord of 
battles, and negotiations were entered into with both, ending in 
the selection of Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor Francis 
of Austria, who did not venture to refuse a demand for his daugh- 
ter's hand from the master of half his dominions. 

Napoleon was not long in finding a plea for setting aside the 
wife of his days of poverty and obscurity. A defect in the mar- 
riage was alleged, and the transparent farce went on. The divorce 
of Josephine has awakened the sympathy of a century. It was, 
indeed, a piteous example of statecraft, and there can be no 
doubt that Napoleon suffered in his heart while yielding to the 
dictates of his unbridled ambition. The marriage with Maria 
Louisa, on the 2d of April, 1810, was conducted with all possible 
pomp and display, no less than five queens carrying the train of 
the bride in the august ceremony. The purpose of the marriage 
did not fail; the next year a son was born to Napoleon. But this 



120 THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

imperial youth, who was dignified with the title of King of Rome, 
was destined to an inglorious life, as an unconsidered tenant of 
the gilded halls of his imperial grandfather of Austria. 

With the defeat and death of Napoleon the Great was des- 
tined to end the empire he had so brilliantly built up. It was as 
well. No man of his name could hope to emulate his career or 
worthily grasp the scepter he was finally forced to let fall. An 
unworthy one, sarcastically termed "Napoleon the Little," sought 
to do so, but proved an example of the ordinary seeking to replace 
the extraordinary. Of all rulers of men and leaders of armies few 
if any have equalled Napoleon in genius. Alike as a soldier and 
as a statesman he proved himself great, and the years that have 
passed since his death have but increased the world's admiration 
for his abilities. 



CHAPTER VII 

Nelson and Wellington, the Champions of Britain 

End of the European Reign of Terror 

The Battle of the Nile — Nelson at Copenhagen — Defeat of the Danes — Nelson at 

Trafalgar — Nelson Wins and Dies — The Campaign in Portugal — Oporto and Talavera 

— The French Driven from Portugal — Wellington in Spain — Madrid Occupied. 

FOR nearly twenty years went on the stupendous struggle 
between Napoleon the Great and the Powers of Europe, 
but in all that time, and among the multitude of men who 
met the forces of France in battle, only two names emerge which 
the world cares to remember, those of Horatio Nelson, the most 
famous of the admirals of England, and Lord Wellington, who 
alone seemed able to overthrow the greatest military genius of 
modern times. On land the efforts of Napoleon were seconded 
by the intrepidity of a galaxy of heroes, Ney, Murat, Moreau, 
Massena and other men of fame. At sea the story reads differently. 
That era of stress and strain raised no great admiral in the service 
of France; her ships were feebly commanded, and the fleet of 
Great Britain, under the daring Nelson, kept its proud place as 
mistress of the sea. 

THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 

The first proof of this came before the opening of the cen- 
tury, when Napoleon, led by the ardor of his ambition, landed in 
Egypt, with vague hopes of rivaling in the East the far-famed 
exploits of Alexander the Great. The fleet which bore him thither 
remained moored in Aboukir Bay, where Nelson, scouring the 
Mediterranean in quest of it, first came in sight of its serried line 
of ships on August 1, 1798. One alternative alone dwelt in his 
courageous soul, that of a heroic death or a glorious victory. 

(121) 



122 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

"Before this time tomorrow I shall have gained a victory or 
Westminster Abbey," he said. 

In the mighty contest that followed, the French had the 
advantage in numbers, alike of ships, guns and men. They were 
drawn up in a strong and compact line of battle, moored in a 
manner that promised to bid defiance to a force double their own. 
They lay in an open roadstead, but had every advantage of situa- 
tion, the British fleet being obliged to attack them in a position 
carefully chosen for defense. Only the genius of Nelson enabled 
him to overcome those advantages of the enemy. "If we suc- 
ceed, what will the world say?" asked Captain Berry, on hearing 
the admiral's plan of battle. "There is no 'if' in the case," 
answered the admiral. "That we shall succeed is certain: who 
may live to tell the story, is a very different question." 

The story of the "Battle of the Nile" belongs to the record of 
eighteenth-century affairs. All we need say here is that it ended 
in a glorious victory for the English fleet. Of thirteen ships of 
the line in the French fleet, only two escaped. Of four frigates, 
one was sunk and one burned. The British loss was 895 men. 
Of the French, 5,225 perished in the terrible fray. Nelson sprang, 
in a moment, from the position of a man without fame into that 
of the naval hero of the world — as Dewey did in as famous a fray 
almost exactly a century later. Congratulations and honors were 
showered upon him, the Sultan of Turkey rewarded him with 
costly presents, valuable testimonials came from other quarters, 
and his own country honored him with the title of Baron Nelson 
of the Nile, and settled upon him for life a pension of £2,000. 

NELSON AT COPENHAGEN 

The first great achievement of Nelson in the following cen- 
tury was the result of a daring resolution of the statesmen of 
England, in their desperate contest with the Corsican conqueror. 
By his exploit at the Nile the admiral had very seriously weakened 
the sea-power of France. But there were Powers then in alliance 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 123 

with France — Russia, Sweden and Denmark — which had formed 
a confederacy to make England respect their naval rights, and 
whose combined fleet, if it should come to the aid of France, might 
prove sufficient to sweep the ships of England from the seas. 

The weakest of these Powers, and the one most firmly allied 
to France, was Denmark, whose fleet, consisting of twenty-three 
ships of the line and about thirty-one frigates and smaller vessels, 
lay at Copenhagen. At any moment this powerful fleet might 
be put at the disposal of Napoleon. This possible danger the 
British cabinet resolved to avoid. A plan was laid to destroy 
the fleet of the Danes, and on the 12th of March, 1801, the Brit- 
ish fleet sailed with the purpose of putting this resolution into 
effect. 

Nelson, then bearing the rank of vice-admiral, went with 
the fleet, but only as second in command. To the disgust of the 
English people, Sir Hyde Parker, a brave and able seaman, but 
one whose name history has let sink into oblivion, was given chief 
command — a fact which would have insured the failure of the 
expedition if Nelson had not set aside precedent, and put glory 
before duty. Parker, indeed, soon set Nelson chafing by long- 
drawn-out negotiations, which proved useless, wasted time, and 
saved the Danes from being taken by surprise. When, on the 
morning of April 30th, the British fleet at length advanced through 
the Sound and came in sight of the Danish line of defense, they 
beheld formidable preparations to meet them. 

Eighteen vessels, including full-rigged ships and hulks, were 
moored in a line nearly a mile and a half in length, flanked to 
the northward by two artificial islands mounted with sixty-eight 
heavy cannon and supplied with furnaces for heating shot. Near by 
lay two large block-ships. Across the harbor's mouth extended 
a massive chain, and shore batteries commanded the channel. 
Outside the harbor's mouth were moored two 74-gun ships, a 40- 
gun frigate and some smaller vessels. In addition to these defenses, 
which stretched for nearly four miles in length, was the difficulty 



124 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

of the channel, always hazardous from its shoals, and now beaconed 
with false buoys for the purpose of luring the British ships to 
destruction. 

DEFEAT OF THE DANES 

With modern defenses — rapid-fire guns and steel-clad bat- 
teries — the enterprise would have been hopeless, but the art of 
defense was then at a far lower level. Nelson, who led the van 
in the 74-gun ship Elephant, gazed on these preparations with 
admiration, but with no evidence of doubt as to the result. The 
British fleet consisted of eighteen line-of-battle ships, with a large 
number of frigates and other craft, and with this force and his 
indomitable spirit, he felt confident of breaking these formidable 
lines. 

At ten o'clock on the morning of April 2d the battle began, 
two of the British ships running aground almost before a gun was 
fired. At sight of this disaster Nelson instantly changed his plan 
of sailing, starboarded his helm, and sailed in, dropping anchor 
within a cable's length of the Dannebrog, of 62 guns. The other 
ships followed his example, avoiding the shoals on which the 
Bellona and Russell had grounded, and taking position at the 
close quarters of 100 fathoms from the Danish ships. 

A terrific cannonade followed, kept up by both sides with 
unrelenting fury for three hours, and with terrible effect on the 
contesting ships and their crews. At this juncture took place an 
event that has made Nelson's name immortal among naval heroes. 
Admiral Parker, whose flag-ship lay at a distance from the hot 
fight, but who heard the incessant and furious fire and saw the 
grounded ships flying signals of distress, began to fear that Nelson 
was in serious danger, from which it was his duty to withdraw 
him. At about one o'clock he reluctantly hoisted a signal for the 
action to cease. 

At this moment Nelson was pacing the quarter-deck of the 
Elephant, inspired with all the fury of the fight. "It is a warm 




WELLINGTON AT WATERLOO GIVING THE WORD TO ADVANCE 

rwJ^ 6n thS Fre fh daggered back in final despair, after hurling themselves a 

Io^pH ™T eS , a fi a ^ St r the ? ntlsh „ ran h the S reat British commander, Wellington, 
shouted Let all the line advance," and Napoleon's shattered army was swept from the 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 125 

business," he said to Colonel Stewart, who was on the ship with 
him; "and any moment may be the last of either of us; but, mark 
you, I would not for thousands be anywhere else." 

As he spoke the flag-lieutenant reported that the signal to 
cease action was shown on the mast-head of the flag-ship London, 
and asked if he should report it to the fleet. 

"No," was the stern answer; "merely acknowledge it. Is 
our signal for 'close action' still flying?" 

"Yes," replied the officer. 

"Then see that you keep it so," said Nelson, the stump of 
his amputated ami working as it usually did when he was agitated. 
"Do you know," he asked Colonel Stewart, "the meaning of sig- 
nal No. 39, shown by Parker's ship?" 

"No. What does it mean?" 

"To leave off action!" He was silent a moment, then, burst 
out, "Now damn me if I do!" 

Turning to Captain Foley, who stood near him, he said: 
"Foley, you know I have only one eye; I have a right to be blind 
sometimes." He raised his telescope, applied it to his blind eye, 
and said: "I really do not see the signal." 

On roared the guns, overhead on the Elephant still streamed 
the signal for "close action," and still the torrent of British balls 
rent the Danish ships. In half an hour more the fire of the Danes 
was fast weakening. In an hour it had nearly ceased. They had 
suffered frightfully, in ships and lives, and only the continued 
fire of the shore batteries now kept the contest alive. It was 
impossible to take possession of the prizes, and Nelson sent a flag 
of truce ashore with a letter in which he threatened to burn the 
vessels, with all on board, unless the shore fire was stopped. This 
threat proved effective, the fire ceased, the great battle was at an 
end. 

At four o'clock Nelson went on board the London, to meet 
the admiral. He was depressed in spirit, and said: "I have fought 
contrary to orders, and may be hanged; never mind, let them." 



126 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

There was no danger of this; Parker was not that kind of 
man. He had raised the signal through fear for Nelson's safety, 
and now gloried in his success, giving congratulations where his 
subordinate looked for blame. The Danes had fought bravely 
and stubbornly, but they had no commander of the spirit and 
genius of Nelson, and were forced to yield to British pluck and 
endurance. Until June 13th, Nelson remained in the Baltic, 
watching the Russian fleet which he might still have to fight. 
Then came orders for his return home, and word reached him that 
he had been created Viscount Nelson for his services. 

NELSON AT TRAFALGAR 

There remains to describe the last and most famous of Nel- 
son's exploits, that in which he put an end to the sea-power of 
France, by destroying the remainder of her fleet at Trafalgar, and 
met death at the moment of victory. Four years had passed since 
the fight at Copenhagen. During much of that time Nelson had 
kept his fleet on guard off Toulon, impatiently waiting until the 
enemy should venture from that port of refuge. At length, the 
combined fleet of France and Spain, now in alliance, escaped his 
vigilance, and sailed to the West Indies to work havoc in the 
British colonies. He followed them thither in all haste; and sub- 
sequently, on their return to France, he chased them back across 
the seas, burning with eagerness to bring them to bay. 

On the 19th of October, 1805, the allied fleet put to sea from 
the harbor of Cadiz, confident that its great strength would enable 
it to meet any force the British had upon the waves. Admiral 
De Villeneuve, with thirty-three ships of the line and a consider- 
able number of smaller craft, had orders to force the straits of 
Gibraltar, land troops at Naples, sweep British cruisers and com- 
merce from the Mediterranean, and then seek the port of Toulon 
to refit. As it turned out, he never reached the straits, his fleet 
meeting its fate before it could leave the Atlantic waves. Nelson 
had reached the coast of Europe again, and was close at hand 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 127 

when the doomed ships of the allies appeared. Two swift ocean 
scouts saw the movements, and hastened to Lord Nelson with 
the welcome news that the long-deferred moment was at hand. 
On the 21st, the British fleet came within view, and the follow- 
ing signal was set on the mast-head of the flag-ship: 

"The French and Spaniards are out at last; they outnumber 
us in ships and guns and men; we are on the eve of the greatest 
sea-fight in history." 

On came the ships, great lumbering craft, strangely unlike 
the war-vessels of today. Instead of the trim, grim, steel-clad, 
steam-driven modern battleship, with its revolving turret, and 
great frowning, breech-loading guns, sending their balls through 
miles of air, those were bluff-bowed, ungainly hulks, with bellying 
sides towering like black walls above the sea as if to make the 
largest mark possible for hostile shot, with a great show of muzzle- 
loading guns of small range, while overhead rose lofty spars and 
spreading sails. Ships they were that today would be sent to 
the bottom in five minutes of fight, but which, mated against others 
of the same build, were capable of giving a gallant account of 
themselves. 

It was off the shoals of Cape Trafalgar, near the southern 
extremity of Spain, that the two fleets met, and such a tornado 
of fire as has rarely been seen upon the ocean waves was poured 
from their broad and lofty sides. As they came together there 
floated from the masthead of the Victory, Nelson's flagship, that 
signal which has become the watchword of the British isles: 
" England expects that every man will do his duty." 

NELSON WINS AND DIES 

We cannot follow the fortunes of all the vessels in that stu- 
pendous fray, the most famous sea-fight in history. It must serve 
to follow the Victory in her course, in which Nelson eagerly sought 
to thrust himself into the heart of the fight and dare death in his 
quest for victory. He was not long in meeting his wish. Soon 



128 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

he found himself in a nest of enemies, eight ships at once pouring 
their fire upon his devoted vessel, which could not bring a gun 
to bear in return, the wind having died away and the ship lying 
almost motionless upon the waves. 

Before the Victory was able to fire a shot fifty of her men had 
fallen killed or wounded, and her canvas was pierced and rent till 
it looked like a series of fishing nets. But the men stuck to their 
guns with unyielding tenacity, and at length their opportunity 
came. A 68-pounder carronade, loaded with a round shot and 500 
musket balls, was fired into the cabin windows of the Bucentaure, 
with such terrible effect as to disable 400 men and 20 guns, and 
put the ship practically out of the fight. 

The Victory next turned upon the Neptune and the Redoubt- 
able, of the enemy's fleet. The Neptune, not liking her looks, kept 
off, but she collided and locked spars with the Redoubtable, and a 
terrific fight began. On the opposite side of the Redoubtable came 
the British ship Temeraire, and opposite it again a second ship of 
the enemy, the four vessels lying bow to bow, and rending one 
another's sides with an incessant hail of balls. On the Victory 
the gunners were ordered to depress their pieces, that the balls 
should not go through and wound the Temeraire beyond. The 
muzzles of their cannon fairly touched the enemy's side, and after 
each shot a bucket of water was dashed into the rent, that they 
might not set fire to the vessel which they confidently expected to 
take as a prize. 

In the midst of the hot contest came the disaster already 
spoken of. Brass swivels were mounted in the French ship's tops 
to sweep with their fire the deck of their foe, and as Nelson and 
Captain Hardy paced together their poop deck, regardless of dan- 
ger, the admiral suddenly fell. A ball from one of these guns had 
reached the noblest mark on the fleet. 

"They have done for me at last, Hardy," the fallen man 
said. 

"Don't say you are hit!" cried Hardy in dismay. 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 129 

"Yes, my backbone is shot through." 

His words were not far from the truth. He never arose from 
that fatal shot. Yet, dying as he was, his spirit survived. 

'I hope none of our ships have struck, Hardy," he feebly 
asked in a later interval of the fight. 

"No, my lord. There is small fear of that." 

"I'm a dead man, Hardy, but I'm glad of what you say. 
Whip them now you've got them. Whip them as they've never 
been whipped before." 

Another hour passed. Hardy came below again to say that 
fourteen or fifteen of the enemy's ships had struck. 

"That's better, though I bargained for twenty," said the 
dying man. "And now, anchor, Hardy — anchor." 

"I suppose, my lord, that Admiral Collingwood will now take 
the direction of affairs." 

"Not while I live," exclaimed Nelson, with a momentary 
return of energy. "Do you anchor, Hardy." 

"Then shall we make the signal, my lord." 

"Yes, for if I live, I'll anchor." 

That was the end. Five minutes later Horatio Nelson, Eng- 
land's greatest sea champion, was dead. He had won — not "vic- 
tory and Westminster Abbey" — but victory and a noble resting 
place in St. Paul's Cathedral. 

Collingwood did not anchor, but stood out to sea with the 
eighteen prizes of the hard-fought fray. In the gale that followed 
many of the results of victory were lost, four of the ships being 
retaken, some wrecked on shore, some foundering at sea, only 
four reaching British waters in Gibraltar Bay. But whatever 
was lost, Nelson's fame was secure, and the victory at Trafalgar 
is treasured as one of the most famous triumphs of British arms. 

The naval battle at Copenhagen, won by Nelson, was followed, 
six years later, by a combined land and naval expedition in which 
Wellington, England's other champion, took part. Again inspired 
by the fear that Napoleon might use the Danish fleet for his own 



130 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

purposes, the British government, though at peace with Denmark, 
sent a fleet to Copenhagen, bombarded and captured the city, 
and seized the Danish ships. A battle took place on land in 
which Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) won an easy victory 
and captured 10,000 men. The whole business was an inglorious 
one, a dishonorable incident in a struggle in which the defeat of 
Napoleon stood first, honor second. Among the English them- 
selves some defended it on the plea of policy, some called it piracy 
and murder. 

THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTUGAL 

Not long afterwards England prepared to take a serious part 
on land in the desperate contest with Napoleon, and sent a Brit- 
ish force to Portugal, then held by the French army of invasion 
under Marshal Junot. This force, 10,000 strong, was commanded 
by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and landed July 30, 1808, at Mondego 
Bay. He was soon joined by General Spencer from Cadiz, with 
13,000 men. 

The French, far from home and without support, were seriously 
alarmed at this invasion, and justly so, for they met with defeat 
in a sharp battle at Vimeiro, and would probably have been forced 
to surrender as prisoners of war had not the troops been called 
off from pursuit by Sir Harry Burrard, who had been sent out 
to supersede Wellesley in command. The end of it all was a truce, 
and a convention under whose terms the French troops were per- 
mitted to evacuate Portugal with their arms and baggage and 
return to France. This release of Junot from a situation which 
precluded escape so disgusted Wellesley that he threw up his com- 
mand and returned to England. Other troops sent out under Sir 
John Moore and Sir David Baird met a superior force of French 
in Spain, and their expedition ended in disaster. Moore was 
killed while the troops were embarking to return home, and the 
memory of this affair has been preserved in the famous ode, "The 
Burial of Sir John Moore," from which we quote: 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 131 

"We buried him darkly at dead of night, 
The sod with our bayonets turning, 
By the glimmering moonbeams' misty light 
And the lanterns dimly burning." 

In April, 1809, Wellesley returned to Portugal, now chief in 
command, to begin a struggle which was to continue until the 
fall of Napoleon. There were at that time about 20,000 British 
soldiers at Lisbon, while the French had in Spain more than 300,000 
men, under such generals as Ney, Soult and Victor. The British, 
indeed, were aided by a large number of natives in arms. But 
these, though of service as guerillas, were almost useless in regular 
warfare. 

OPORTO AND TALAVERA 

Wellesley was at Lisbon. Oporto, 170 miles north, was held 
by Marshal Soult, who had recently taken it. Without delay 
Wellington marched thither, and drove the French outposts across 
the river Douro. But in their retreat they burned the bridge of 
boats across the river, seized every boat they could find, and rested 
in security, defying their foes to cross. Soult, veteran officer 
though he was, fancied that he had disposed of Wellesley, and 
massed his forces on the seacoast side of the town, in which quarter 
alone he looked for an attack. 

He did not know his antagonist. A few skiffs were secured, 
and a small party of British was sent across the stream. The 
French attacked them, but they held their ground till some others 
joined them, and by the time Soult was informed of the danger 
Wellesley had landed a large force and controlled a good supply 
of boats. A battle followed in which the French were routed and 
forced to retreat. But the only road by which their artillery or 
baggage could be moved had been seized by General Beresford, 
and was strongly held. In consequence Soult was forced to 
abandon all his wagons and cannon and make his escape by by- 
roads into Spain. 



132 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

This signal victory was followed by another on July 27, 1809, 
when Wellesley, with 20,000 British soldiers and about 40,000 
Spanish allies, met a French army of 60,000 men at Talavera in 
Spain. The battle that succeeded lasted two days. The brunt 
of it fell upon the British, the Spaniards proving of little use, yet 
it ended in the defeat of the French, who retired unmolested, the 
British being too exhausted to pursue. 

The tidings of this victory were received with the utmost 
enthusiasm in England. It was shown by it that British valor 
could win battles against Napoleon on land as well as on sea. 
Wellesley received the wannest thanks of the king, and, like Nel- 
son, was rewarded by being raised to the peerage, being given the 
titles of Baron Douro of Wellesley and Viscount Wellington of 
Talavera. 

THE FRENCH DRIVEN FROM PORTUGAL 

Men and supplies just then would have served Wellington 
better than titles. With strong support he could have marched 
on and taken Madrid. As it was, he felt obliged to retire upon 
the fortress of Badajoz, near the frontier of Portugal. Spain was 
swarming with French soldiers, who were gradually collected there 
until they exceeded 350,000 men. Of these 80,000, under the 
command of Massena, were sent to act against the British. Before 
this strong force Wellington found it necessary to draw back, and 
the frontier fortresses of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo were taken 
by the French. Wellington's first stand was on the heights of 
Busaco, September, 1810. Here, with 30,000 men, he withstood 
all the attacks of the French, who in the end were forced to with- 
draw. Massena then tried to gain the road between Lisbon and 
Oporto, whereupon Wellington quickly retreated towards Lisbon. 

The British general had during the winter been very usefully 
employed. The road by which Lisbon must be approached passes 
the village of Torres Vedras, and here two strong lines of earth- 
works were constructed, some twenty-five miles in length, stretch- 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 133 

ing from the sea to the Tagus, and effectually securing Lisbon 
against attack. These works had been built with such secrecy 
and despatch that the French were quite ignorant of their exist- 
ence, and Massena, marching in confidence upon the Portuguese 
capital, was amazed and chagrined on finding before him this 
formidable barrier. 

It was strongly defended, and all his efforts to take it proved 
in vain. He then tried to reduce the British by famine, but in 
this he was equally baffled, food being poured into Lisbon from 
the sea. He tried by a feigned retreat to draw the British from 
their works, but this stratagem failed of effect, and for four months 
more the armies remained inactive. At length the exhaustion of 
the country of provisions made necessary a real retreat of the 
French, and Massena withdrew across the Spanish frontier, halting 
near Salamanca. Of the proud force with which Napoleon pro- 
posed to "drive the British leopards into the sea," more than 
half had vanished in this luckless campaign. 

WELLINGTON IN SPAIN 

But though the French army had withdrawn from Portugal, 
the frontier fortresses were still in French hands, and of these 
Almeida, near the borders, was the first to be attacked by Wel- 
lington's forces. Massena advanced with 50,000 men to its relief, 
and the two armies met at Fuentes-de-Onoro, May 4, 1811. The 
French made attacks on the 5th and 6th, but were each time 
repulsed, and on the 7th Massena retreated, sending orders to 
the governor of Almeida to destroy the fortifications and leave 
the place. 

Another battle was fought in front of Badajoz of the most 
sanguinary character, the total loss of the two armies being 15,000 
killed and wounded. For a time the British seemed threatened 
with inevitable defeat, but the fortune of the day was turned into 
victory by a desperate charge. Subsequently Ciudad Rodrigo 
was attacked, and was carried by storm, in January, 1812. Wei- 



134 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

lington then returned to Badajoz, which was also taken by storm, 
after a desperate combat in which the victors lost 5,000 men, a 
number exceeding that of the whole French garrison. 

MADRID OCCUPIED 

• 

These continued successes of the British were seriously out of 
consonance with the usual exploits of Napoleon's armies. He 
was furious with his marshals, blaming them severely, and might 
have taken their place in the struggle with Wellington but that 
his fatal march to Russia was about to begin. Badajoz taken, 
Wellington advanced into Spain, and on July 21st encountered 
the French army under Marmont before the famous old town of 
Salamanca. The battle, one of the most stubbornly contested in 
which Wellington had yet been engaged, ended in the repulse of 
the French, and on August 12th the British army marched into 
Madrid, the capital of Spain, from which King Joseph Bonaparte 
had just made his second flight. 

Wellington's next effort was a siege of the strong fortress of 
Burgos. This proved the one failure in his military career, he 
being obliged to raise the siege after several weeks of effort. In 
the following year he was strongly reinforced, and with an arm}' 
numbering nearly 200,000 men he marched on the retreating 
enemy, meeting them at Vittoria, near the boundary of France 
and Spain, on June 21, 1813. The French were for the first time 
in this war in a minority. They were also heavily encumbered 
with baggage, the spoils of their occupation of Spain. The battle 
ended in a complete victory for Wellington, who captured 157 
cannon and a vast quantity of plunder, including the spoils of 
Madrid and of the palace of the kings of Spain. The specie, of 
which a large sum was taken, quickly disappeared among the 
troops, and failed to reach the treasure chests of the army. 

The French were now everywhere on the retreat. Soult, after a 
vigorous effort to drive the British from the passes of the Pyrenees, 
withdrew, and Wellington and his army at length stood on the 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 135 

soil of France. A victory over Soult at Nivelle, and a series of 
successes in the following spring, ended the long Peninsular "War, 
the abdication of Napoleon closing the long and terrible drama of 
battle. In the whole six years of struggle Wellington had not 
once been defeated on the battle-field. 

His military career had not yet ended. His great day of 
glory was still to come, that in which he was to meet Napoleon 
himself on the field of Waterloo and, for the first time in the his- 
tory of the great Corsican, drive back the latter's army in utter rout. 

A year or more had passed since the events just narrated. In 
June, 1815, Wellington found himself at the head of an army 
some 100,000 strong, encamped around Brussels, the capital of 
Belgium. It was a mingled group of British, Dutch, Belgian, 
Hanoverian, German and other troops, hastily got together, and 
many of them not safely to be depended upon. Of the British, 
numbers had never been under fire. Marshal Blucher, with an 
equal force of Prussian troops, was near at hand; the two forces 
prepared to meet the rapidly advancing Napoleon. 

. There followed a defeat of Blucher at Ligny, and an attack 
on Wellington at Quatre Bras. On the evening of the 17th the 
army, retreating from Quatre Bras, encamped on the historic 
field of Waterloo in a drenching rain, that turned the roads 
into streams, the fields into swamps. All night long the rain 
came down, the soldiers enduring the flood with what patience 
they could. In the morning it ceased, fires were kindled and 
active preparations began for the terrible struggle at hand. 

Here ran a shallow valley, bounded by two ridges, the north- 
ern of which was occupied by the British, while Napoleon posted 
his army on its arrival along the southern ridge. On the slope 
before the British center was the white-walled farm house of La 
Haye Sainte, and in front of the right wing the chateau of Hougou- 
mont, with its various stout stone buildings. Both of these were 
occupied by men of Wellington's army, and became leading points 
in the struggle of the day. 



136 NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

It was nine o'clock in the morning before the vanguard of the 
French army made its appearance on the crest of the southern 
ridge. By half -past ten 61,000 soldiers — infantry, cavalry and 
artillery — lay encamped in full sight. About half-past eleven 
came the first attack of that remarkable day, during which the 
French waged an aggressive battle, and the British stood on the 
defensive. 

This first attack was directed against Hougoumont, around 
which there was a desperate contest. At this point the affray 
went on, in successive waves of attack and repulse, all day long; 
yet still the British held the buildings, and all the fierce valor of 
the French failed to gain them a foothold within. 

About two o'clock came a second attack, preceded by a 
frightful cannonade upon the British left and center. Four mas- 
sive columns, led by Ney, poured steadily forward straight for the 
ridge, sweeping upon and around the farm-stead of La Haye Sainte, 
but met at every point by the sabres and bayonets of the British 
lines. Nearly 24,000 men took part in this great movement, the 
struggle lasting more than an hour before the French staggered 
back in repulse. Then from the French lines came a stupendous 
cavalry charge, the massive columns composed of no less than 
forty squadrons of cuirassiers and dragoons, filling almost all the 
space between Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte as they poured 
like a torrent upon the British lines. Torn by artillery, rent by 
musketry; checked, reformed; charging again, and again driven 
back; they expended their strength and their lives on the infantry 
squares that held their ground with the grimmest obstinacy. 
Once more, now strengthened by the cavalry of the Imperial 
Guard, they came on to carnage and death, shattering themselves 
against those unyielding squares, and in the end repulsed with 
frightful loss. 

The day was now well advanced, it being half-past four in 
the afternoon; the British had been fearfully shaken by the furious 
efforts of the French; when, emerging from the woods at St. Lam- 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 137 

bert, appeared the head of a column of fresh troops. Who were 
they? Blucher's Prussians, or Grouchy's pursuing French? On 
the answer to this question depended the issue of that terrible 
day. The question was soon decided; they were the Prussians; 
no sign appeared of the French; the hearts of the British beat 
high with hope and those of the French sank low in despair, for 
these fresh troops could not fail to decide the fate of that mighty 
field of battle. Soon the final struggle came. Napoleon, driven 
to desperation, launched his grand reserve corps, the far-famed 
Imperial Guard, upon his enemies. On they come, with Ney at 
their head; on them poured a terrible torrent of flame; from a 
distance the front ranks appeared stationary, but only because they 
met a death-line as they came, and fell in bleeding rows. Then 
on them, in a wild charge, rushed the British Foot Guards, took 
them in flank, and soon all was over. "The Guard dies, but never 
surrenders," said their commander. Die they did, few of them 
surviving to take part in that mad flight which swept Napoleon 
from the field and closed the fatal day of Waterloo. England had 
won the great victory, now century-old, and Wellington from 
that day of triumph took rank with the greatest of British heroes. 




CHAPTER VIII 

The Decline and Fall of Napoleon's Empire 

Dawn of a New Era in Europe 

The Kings and People of Spain — French Defeated and Napoleon in Command — 
The Triumph of Wellington — Napoleon's Fatal Enterprise — The Grand Army in 
Russia — Smolensk on Fire — The Fight at Borodino — Moscow Occupied by the French 
— The Terror of Flame — Napoleon's Dread Dilemma — Winter in Full Fury — The 
Remnant of the Grand Army — Europe Rises Against the Corsican — The Empire Goes 
to Pieces — Napoleon Exiled to Elba — End of Napoleon's Career. 

MBITION, unrestrained by caution, uncontrolled by modera- 
tion, has its inevitable end. An empire built upon victory, 
trusting solely to military genius, prepares for itself the ele- 
ments of its overthrow. This fact Napoleon was to learn. In 
the outset of his career he opposed a new art of war to the obsolete 
one of his enemies, and his path to empire was over the corpses of 
slaughtered armies and the ruins of fallen kingdoms. But year by 
year his foes learned his art, in war after war their resistance grew 
more stringent, each successive victory was won with more difficulty 
and at greater cost, and finally, at the crossing of the Danube, the 
energy and genius of Napoleon met their equal, and the standards 
of France, for the first time under Napoleon's leadership, went 
back in defeat. It was the tocsin of fate. His career of victory 
had culminated. From that day its decline began. 

THE KINGS AND PEOPLE OF SPAIN 

It is interesting to find that the first effective check to Napo- 
leon's victorious progress came from one of the weaker nations of 
Europe, a power which the conqueror contemned and thought to 
move as one of the minor pieces in his game of empire. Spain at 
that time had reached almost the lowest stage of its decline. Its 
king was an imbecile; the heir to the throne a weakling; Godoy, 

(138) 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 139 

the "Prince of the Peace," the monarch's favorite, an ambitious 
intriguer. Napoleon's armies had invaded Portugal and forced 
its monarch to embark for Brazil, his American domain. A similar 
movement was attempted in Spain. This country the base Godoy 
betrayed to Napoleon, and then, frightened by the consequences 
of his dishonorable intrigues, sought to escape with the king and 
court to the Spanish dominions in America. His scheme was pre- 
vented by an outbreak of the people of Madrid, and Napoleon, 
ambitiously designing to add the peninsula to his empire, induced 
both Charles IV and his son Ferdinand to resign from the throne. 
He replaced them by his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who, on June 
6, 1808, was named King of Spain. 

Hitherto Napoleon had dealt with emperors and kings, whose 
overthrow carried with it that of their people. In Spain he had a 
new element, the people itself, to deal with. The very weakness 
of Spain proved its strength. Deprived of their native monarchs, 
and given a king not of their own choice, the whole people rose in 
rebellion and defied Napoleon and his armies. An insurrection 
broke out in Madrid in which 1,200 French soldiers were slain. 
Juntas were formed in different cities, which assumed the control 
of affairs and refused obedience to the new king. From end to end 
of Spain the people sprang to arms and began a guerilla warfare 
which the troops of Napoleon sought in vain to quell. The bayonets 
of the French were able to sustain King Joseph and his court in 
Madrid, but proved powerless to put down the people. Each 
city, each district, became a separate center of war, each had to 
be conquered separately, and the strength of the troops was con- 
sumed in petty contests with a people who avoided open warfare 
and dealt in surprises and scattered fights, in which victory counted 
for little and needed to be repeated a thousand times. 

FRENCH DEFEATED AND NAPOLEON IN COMMAND 

The Spanish did more than this. They put an army in the 
field which was defeated by the French, but they revenged them- 



140 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

selves brilliantly at Baylen, in Andalusia, where General Dupont, 
with a corps 20,000 strong, was surrounded in a position from 
which there was no escape, and forced to surrender himself and his 
men as prisoners of war. 

This undisciplined people had gained a victory over France 
which none of the great Powers of Europe could match. The 
Spaniards were filled with enthusiasm; King Joseph hastily aban- 
doned Madrid; the French armies retreated across the Ebro. Soon 
encouraging news came from Portugal. The English, hitherto 
mainly confining themselves to naval warfare and to aiding the 
enemies of Napoleon with money, had landed an army in that 
country under Sir Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Lord Wellington) 
and other generals, which would have captured the entire French 
army had it not capitulated on the terms of a free passage to France. 
For the time being the peninsula of Spain and Portugal was free 
from Napoleon's power. 

The humiliating reverse to his arms called Napoleon himself 
into the field. He marched at the head of an army into Spain, 
defeated the insurgents wherever met, and reinstated his brother 
on the throne. The city of Saragossa, which made one of the most 
heroic defenses known in history, was taken, and the advance of 
the British armies was checked. And yet, though Spain was widely 
overrun, the people did not yield. The junta at Cadiz defied the 
French, the guerillas continued in the field, and the invaders 
found themselves baffled by an enemy who was felt oftener than 
seen. 

The Austrian war called away the emperor and the bulk of 
his troops, but after it was over he filled Spain with his veterans, 
increasing the strength of the army there to 300,000 men, under 
his ablest generals, Soult, Massena, Ney, Marmont, Macdonald 
and others. They marched through Spain from end to end, yet, 
though they held all the salient points, the people refused to submit, 
but from their mountain fastnesses kept up a petty and annoying 
war. 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 141 

THE TRIUMPH OF WELLINGTON 

Massena, in 1811, invaded Portugal, where Wellington with an 
English army awaited him behind the strong lines of Torres Vedras, 
which the ever-victorious French sought in vain to carry by assault. 
Massena was compelled to retreat, and Soult, by whom the emperor 
replaced him, was no more successful against the shrewd English 
general. At length Spain won the reward of her patriotic defense. 
The Russian campaign of 1812 compelled the emperor to deplete 
his army in that country, and Wellington came to the aid of the 
patriots, defeated Mannont at Salamanca, entered Madrid, and 
forced King Joseph once more to flee from his unquiet throne. 

For a brief interval he was restored by the French army under 
Soult and Suchet, but the disasters of the Russian campaign brought 
the reign of King Joseph to a final end, and forced him to give up 
the pretence of reigning over a people who were unflinchingly 
determined to have no king but one of their own choice. The story 
of the Spanish war ends in 1813, when Wellington defeated the 
French at Vittoria, pursued them across the Pyrenees, and set foot 
upon the soil of France. 

napoleon's fatal enterprise 

While these events were taking place in Spain the power of 
Napoleon was being shattered to fragments in the north. On the 
banks of the Niemen, a river that flows between Prussia and Poland, 
there gathered near the end of June, 1812, an immense army of more 
than 600,000 men, attended by an enormous multitude of non- 
combatants, their purpose being the invasion of the empire of Russia. 
Of this great army, made up of troops from half the nations of 
Europe, there reappeared six months later on that broad stream 
about 16,000 armed men, almost all that were left of that stupendous 
host. The remainder had perished on the desert soil or in the frozen 
rivers of Russia, few of them surviving as prisoners in Russian 
hands. Such was the character of the dread catastrophe that broke 



142 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

the power of the mighty conqueror and delivered Europe from his 
autocratic grasp. 

The breach of relations between Napoleon and Alexander was 
largely due to the arbitrary and high-handed proceedings of the 
French emperor, who was accustomed to deal with the map of 
Europe as if it represented his private domain. He offended Alex- 
ander by enlarging the duchy of Warsaw — one of his own creations — 
and deeply incensed him by extending the French empire to the 
shores of the Baltic, thus robbing of his dominion the Duke of Olden- 
burg, a near relative of Alexander. On the other hand the Czar 
declined to submit the commercial interests of his country to the 
rigor of Napoleon's "continental blockade," and made a new tariff 
which interfered with the importation of French and favored that 
of English goods. These acts in which Alexander chose to place 
his own interests in advance of those of Napoleon were as worm- 
wood to the haughty soul of the latter, and he determined to punish 
the Russian autocrat as he had done the other monarchs of Europe. 

For a year or two before war was declared Napoleon had been 
preparing for the greatest struggle of his life, adding to his army 
by the most rigorous methods of conscription and collecting great 
magazines of war material, though still professing friendship for 
Alexander. The latter, however, was not deceived. He prepared, 
on his part, for the threatened struggle, made peace with the Turks, 
and formed an alliance with Bernadotte, the crown prince of Sweden, 
who had good reason to be offended with his former lord and master. 
Napoleon, on his side, allied himself with Prussia and Austria, 
and added to his army large contingents of troops from the German 
states. At length the great conflict was ready to begin between the 
two autocrats, the Emperors of the East and the West, and Europe 
resounded with the tread of marching feet. 

THE GRAND ARMY IN RUSSIA 

In the closing days of June the grand army crossed the Niemen, 
its last regiments reaching Russian soil by the opening of July. 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 14b 

Napoleon, with the advance, pressed on to Wilna, the capital of 
Lithuania. On all sides the Poles rose in enthusiastic hope, and 
joined the ranks of the man whom they looked upon as their deliv- 
erer. Onward went the great army, marching with Napoleon's 
accustomed rapidity, seeking to prevent the concentration of the 
divided Russian forces, and advancing daily deeper into the 
dominions of the Czar. 

The French emperor had his plans well laid. He proposed to 
meet the Russians in force on some interior field, win from them one 
of his accustomed brilliant victories, crush them with his enormous 
columns, and force the dismayed Czar to sue for peace on his own 
terms. But plans need two sides for their consummation, and the 
Russian leaders did not propose to lose the advantage given them 
by nature. On and on went Napoleon, deeper and deeper into that 
desolate land, but the great army he was to crush failed to loom up 
before him, the broad plains still spread onward empty of soldiers, 
and disquiet began to assail his imperious soul as he found the Rus- 
sian hosts keeping constantly beyond his reach, luring him ever 
more deeply into their vast territory. In truth Barclay de Tolly, 
the Czar's chief in command, had adopted a policy which was sure 
to prove fatal to Napoleon's purpose, that of persistently avoiding 
battle and keeping the French in pursuit of a fleeting will-of-the- 
wisp, while their army wasted away from natural disintegration in 
that inhospitable clime. 

He was correct in his views. Desertion, illness, the death of 
young recruits who could not endure the hardships of a rapid march 
in the severe heat of midsummer, began their fatal work. Napo- 
leon's plan of campaign proved a total failure. The Russians 
would not wait to be defeated, and each day's march opened a 
wider circle of operations before the advancing host, whom the 
interminable plain filled with a sense of hopelessness. The heat 
was overpowering, and men dropped from the ranks as rapidly as 
though on a field of battle. At Vitebsk the army was inspected, 
and the emperor was alarmed at the rapid decrease in his forces. 



144 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

Some of the divisions had lost more than a fourth of their men, 
in every corps the ranks were depleted, and reinforcements already 
had to be set on the march. 

Onward they went, here and there bringing the Russians to 
bay in a minor engagement, but nowhere meeting them in numbers. 
Europe waited in vain for tidings of a great battle, and Napoleon 
began to look upon his proud army with a feeling akin to despair. 
He was not alone in his eagerness for battle. Some of the high- 
spirited Russians, among them Prince Bagration, were as eager, 
but as yet the prudent policy of Barclay de Tolly prevailed, and the 
armies of Russia kept beyond the reach of their foes. 

SMOLENSK ON FIRE 

On the 14th of August, the army crossed the Dnieper, and 
marched, now 175,000 strong, upon Smolensk, which was reached 
on the 16th. This ancient and venerable town was dear to the Rus- 
sians, and they made their first detennined stand in its defense, 
fighting behind its walls all day of the 17th. Finding that the 
assault was likely to succeed, they set fire to the town at night and 
withdrew, leaving to the French a city in flames. The bridge was 
cut, the Russian army was beyond pursuit on the road to Moscow, 
nothing had been gained by the struggle but the ruins of a town. 

The situation was growing desperate. For two months the 
army had advanced without a battle of importance, and was now 
in the heart of Russia, reduced to half its numbers, while the hoped- 
for victory seemed as far off as ever. And the short summer of the 
north was nearing its end. The severe winter of that climate 
would soon begin. Discouragement everywhere prevailed. Efforts 
were made by Napoleon's marshals to induce him to give up the 
losing game and retreat, but he was not to be moved from his 
purpose. Stubborn adherence to his plans was a marked phase 
of his character. A march on Moscow, the old capital of the 
empire, he felt sure would bring the Russians to bay. Once within 
its walls he hoped to dictate terms of peace. 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 145 

THE FIGHT AT BORODINO 

Napoleon was soon to have the battle for which his soul craved. 
Barclay's prudent and successful policy was not to the taste of many 
of the Russian leaders, and the Czar was at length induced to replace 
him by fiery old Kutusoff, who had commanded the Russians at 
Austerlitz. A change in the situation was soon apparent. On the 
5th of September the French army debouched upon the plain of 
Borodino, on the road to Moscow, and the emperor saw with joy 
the Russian army drawn up to dispute the way to the "Holy 
City " of the Muscovites. The dark columns of troops were strongly 
intrenched behind a small stream, frowning rows of guns threatened 
the advancing foe, and hope returned to the emperor's heart. He 
felt sure that he now had the enemy within his grasp and that 
victory would turn the situation in his favor. 

Battle began early on the 7th, and continued all day long, 
the Russians defending their ground with unyielding stubbornness, 
the French attacking their positions with all their old impetuous 
dash and energy. Murat and Ney were the heroes of the day. 
Again and again the emperor was implored to send the imperial 
guard and overwhelm the foe, but he persistently refused. "If 
there is a second battle tomorrow," he said, "what troops shall 
I fight it with? It is not when one is eight hundred leagues from 
home that he risks his last resource." 

The guard was not needed. On the following day Kutusoff 
was obliged to withdraw, leaving no less than 40,000 dead or 
wounded on the field. Among the killed was the brave Prince 
Bagration. The retreat was an orderly one. Napoleon found it 
expedient not to pursue. His own losses aggregated over 30,000, 
among them an unusual number of generals, of whom ten were 
killed and thirty-nine wounded. Three days proved a brief time 
to attend to the burial of the dead and the needs of the wounded. 
Napoleon named the engagement the Battle of the Moskwa, from 
the river that crossed the plain, and honored Ney, as the hero of the 
day, with the title of Prince of Moskwa. 

10 



146 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

MOSCOW OCCUPIED BY THE FRENCH 

On the 15th the Holy City was reached. A shout of "Moscow? 
Moscow!" went up from the whole army as they gazed on the 
gilded cupolas and magnificent buildings of that famous city, 
brilliantly lit up by the afternoon sun. Twenty miles in circum- 
ference, dazzling with the green of its copper domes and its minarets 
of yellow stone, the towers and walls of the famous Kremlin rising 
above its palaces and gardens, it seemed like some fabled city of the 
Arabian Nights. With renewed enthusiasm the troops rushed 
towards it, while whole regiments of Poles fell on their knees, thank- 
ing God for delivering this stronghold of their oppressors into their 
hands. 

It was an empty city into which the French marched; its 
streets deserted, its dwellings silent. Its busy life had vanished like 
a morning mist. Kutusoff had marched his army through it and 
left it to his foes. The inhabitants were gone, with what they could 
carry of their treasures. The city, like the empire, seemed likely 
to be a barren conquest, for here, as elsewhere, the policy of retreat, 
so fatal to Napoleon's hopes, was put into effect. The emperor 
took up his abode in the Kremlin, within whose ample precincts he 
found quarters for the whole imperial guard. The remainder of 
the army was stationed at chosen points about the city. Provisions 
were abundant, the houses and stores of the city being amply 
supplied. The army enjoyed a luxury of which it had been long 
deprived, while Napoleon confidently awaited a triumphant result 
from his victorious progress. 

THE TERROR OF FLAME 

A terrible disenchantment awaited the invader. Early on 
the following morning word was brought him that Moscow was on 
fire. Flames arose from houses that had not been opened. It was 
evidently a premeditated conflagration. The fire burst out at once 
in a dozen quarters, and a high wind carried the flames from street 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 147 

to street, from house to house, from church to church. Russians 
were captured who boasted that they had fired the town under 
orders and who met death unflinchingly. The governor had left 
them behind for this fell purpose. The poorer people, many of 
whom had remained hidden in their huts, now fled in terror, taking 
with them what cherished possessions they could carry. Soon the 
city was a seething mass of flames. 

The Kremlin did not escape. A tower burst into flames. 
In vain the imperial guard sought to check the fire. No fire-engines 
were to be found in the town. Napoleon hastily left the palace and 
sought shelter outside the city, where for three days the flames 
ran riot, feeding on ancient palaces and destroying untold treasures. 
Then the wind sank and rain poured upon the smouldering embers. 
The great city had become a desolate heap of smoking ruins, into 
which the soldiers daringly stole back in search of valuables that 
might have escaped the flames. 

This frightful conflagration was not due to the Czar, but to 
Count Rostoptchin, the governor of Moscow, who was subsequently 
driven from Russia by the execrations of those he had ruined. 
But it served as a proclamation to Europe of the implacable resolu- 
tion of the Muscovites and their determination to resist to the 
bitter end. 

napoleon's dread dilemma 

Napoleon, sadly troubled in soul, sent letters to Alexander, 
suggesting the advisability of peace. Alexander left his letters 
unanswered. Until October 18th the emperor waited, hoping against 
hope, willing to grant almost any terms for an opportunity to escape 
from the fatal trap into which his overweening ambition had led 
him. No answer came from the Czar. He was inflexible in his 
determination not to treat with these invaders of his country. 
In deep dejection Napoleon at length gave the order to retreat — 
too late, as it was to prove, since the terrible Russian winter was 
ready to descend upon them in all its frightful strength. 



148 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

The army that left that ruined city was a sadly depleted one. 
It had been reduced to 103,000 men. The army followers had also 
become greatly decreased in numbers, but still formed a host, 
among them delicate ladies, thinly clad, who gazed with terrified 
eyes from their traveling carriages upon the dejected troops. 
Articles of plunder of all kinds were carried by the soldiers, even 
the wounded in the wagons lying amid the spoil they had gathered. 
The Kremlin was destroyed by the rear guard, under Napoleon's 
orders, and over the drear Russian plains the retreat began. 

It was no sooner under way than the Russian policy changed. 
From retreating, they everywhere advanced, seeking to annoy 
and cut off the enemy, and utterly to destroy the fugitive army if 
possible. A stand was made at the town of Maloyaroslavetz, 
where a sanguinary combat took place. The French captured the 
town, but ten thousand men lay dead or wounded on the field, 
while Napoleon was forced to abandon his projected line of march, 
and to take for his return the route he had followed in his 
advance on Moscow. From the bloody scene of contest the retreat 
continued, the battle-field of Borodino being crossed, and, by the 
middle of November, the ruins of Smolensk reached. 

WINTER IN FULL FURY 

Winter was now upon the French in all its fury. The food 
brought from Moscow had been exhausted. Famine, frost and 
fatigue had proved more fatal than the bullets of the enemy. In 
fourteen days after reaching Moscow the army lost 43,000 men, 
leaving it only 60,000 strong. On reaching Smolensk it numbered 
but 42,000, having lost 18,000 more within eight days. The unarmed 
followers are said to have still numbered 60,000. Worse still, 
the supply of arms and provisions ordered to be ready at Smolensk 
was in great part lacking, only rye-flour and rice being found. 
Starvation threatened to aid the winter cold in the destruction of 
the feeble remnant of the " Grand Army." 

Onward went the despairing host, at every step harassed by 




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DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 149 

the Russians, who followed like wolves on their path. Ney, in 
command of the rear-guard, was the hero of the retreat. Cut off 
by the Russians from the main column, and apparently lost beyond 
hope, he made a wonderful escape by crossing the Dnieper on the 
ice during the night and rejoining his companions, who had given 
up the hope of ever seeing him again. 

On the 26th the ice-cold river Beresina was reached, destined 
to be the most terrible point on the whole dreadful march. Two 
bridges were thrown in all haste across the stream, and most of the 
men under arms crossed, but 18,000 stragglers fell into the hands 
of the enemy. How many were trodden to death in the press or were 
crowded from the bridge into the icy river cannot be told, j It 
is said that when spring thawed the ice 30,000 bodies were found 
and burned on the banks of the stream. A mere fragment of the 
great army remained alive. Ney was the last man to cross that 
frightful stream. 

THE REMNANT OF THE GRAND ARMY 

On the 3d of December Napoleon issued a bulletin which has 
become famous, telling the anxious nations of Europe that the grand 
army was annihilated, but the emperor was safe. Two days 
afterwards he surrendered the command of the army to Murat and 
set out at all speed for Paris, where his presence was indispensably 
necessary. On the 13th of December some 16,000 haggard and 
staggering men, almost too weak to hold the arms to which they 
still despairingly clung, recrossed the Niemen, which the "Grand 
Army" had passed in such magnificent strength and with such 
abounding resources less than six months before. It was the 
greatest and most astounding disaster in the military history of 
the world. 

This tale of terror may be fitly closed by a dramatic story told 
by General Mathieu Dumas, who, while sitting at breakfast in 
Gumbinnen, saw enter a haggard man, with long beard, blackened 
face, and red and glaring eyes. 



150 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

"I am here at last," he exclaimed. "Don't you know me?" 

"No," said the general. "Who are you?" 

"I am the rear-guard of the Grand Army. I have fired the 
last musket-shot on the bridge of Kowno. I have thrown the last 
of our arms into the Niemen, and came hither through the woods. 
I am Marshal Ney." 

"This is the beginning of the end," said the shrewd Talleyrand, 
when Napoleon set out on his Russian campaign. The remark 
proved true, the disaster in Russia had loosened the grasp of the 
Corsican on the throat of Europe, and the nations, which hated as 
much as they feared their ruthless enemy, made active preparations 
for his overthrow. While he was in France, actively gathering men 
and materials for a renewed struggle, signs of an implacable hostility 
began to manifest themselves on all sides in the surrounding states. 
Belief in the invincibility of Napoleon had vanished, and little fear 
was entertained of the raw conscripts whom he was forcing into the 
ranks to replace his slaughtered veterans. 

EUROPE RISES AGAINST THE CORSICAN 

Prussia was the first to break the bonds of alliance with France, 
to ally itself with Russia, and to call its people to arms against their 
oppressor. They responded with the utmost enthusiasm, men of 
all ranks and all professions hastened to their country's defense, 
and the noble and the peasant stood side by side as privates in the 
same regiment. In March, 1813, the French left Berlin, which was 
immediately occupied by the Russian and Prussian allies. The 
king of Saxony, however, refused to desert Napoleon, to whom he 
owed many favors and whose anger he feared; and his realm, in 
consequence, became the theater of the war. 

Across the opposite borders of this kingdom poured the hostile 
hosts, meeting in battle at Lutzen and Buntzen. Here the French 
held the field, driving their adversaries across the Oder, but not in the 
wild dismay seen at Jena. A new spirit had been aroused in the 
Prussian heart, and they left thousands of their enemies dead upon 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 151 

the field, among whom Napoleon saw with grief his especial friend 
and favorite Duroc. 

A truce followed, which the French emperor utilized in gathering 
fresh levies. Prince Metternich, the able chancellor of the Austrian 
empire, sought to make peace, but his demands upon Napoleon 
were much greater than the proud conqueror was prepared to grant, 
and he decisively refused to cede the territory held by him as the 
spoils of war. His refusal brought upon him another powerful 
foe, Austria allied itself with his enemies, formally declaring war 
on August 12, 1813, and an active and terrible struggle began. 

napoleon's last important victory 

Napoleon's army was rapidly concentrated at Dresden, upon 
whose works of defense the allied army precipitated itself in a vigor- 
ous assault on August 26th. Its strength was wasted against 
the vigorously-held fortifications of the city, and in the end the gates 
were flung open and the serried battalions of the Old Guard 
appeared in battle array. From every gate of the city these tried 
soldiers poured, and rushed upon the unprepared wings of the hostile 
host. Before this resistless charge the enemy recoiled, retreating 
with heavy loss to the heights beyond the city, and leaving Napoleon 
master of the field. 

On the next morning the battle was resumed. The allies, 
strongly posted, still outnumbered the French, and had abundant 
reason to expect victory. But Napoleon's eagle eye quickly saw 
that their left wing lacked the strength of the remainder of the line, 
and upon this he poured the bulk of his forces, while keeping their 
center and right actively engaged. The result justified the instinct 
of his genius, the enemy was driven back in disastrous defeat, 
and once again a glorious victory was inscribed upon the banners 
of France — the final one in Napoleon's career of fame. 

Yet the fruits of this victory were largely lost in the events 
of the remainder of the month. On the 26th Bliicher brilliantly 
defeated Marshal Macdonald on the Katzbach, in Silesia; on the 



152 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

30th General Vandamme, with 10,000 French soldiers, was sur- 
rounded and captured at Culm, in Bohemia; and on the 27th 
Hirschfeld, at Hagelsberg, with a corps of volunteers, defeated 
Girard. The Prussian-Swedish army similarly won victories on 
August 25th and September 6th, and a few weeks afterward the 
Prussian general, Count York, supported by the troops of General 
Horn, crossed the Elbe in the face of the enemy, and gained a bril- 
liant victory at Wartenburg. Where Napoleon was present victory 
inclined to his banner. Where he was absent his lieutenants 
suffered defeat. The struggle was everywhere fierce and desperate, 
but the end was at hand. 

THE LAST STAND AT LEIPZIG 

The rulers of the Rhine Confederation now began to desert 
Napoleon and all Germany to join against him. The first to secede 
was Bavaria, which allied itself with Austria and joined its forces 
to those of the allies. During October the hostile armies concen- 
trated in front of Leipzig, where was to be fought the decisive 
battle of the war. The struggle promised was the most gigantic 
one in which Napoleon had ever been engaged. Against his 100,000 
men was gathered a host of 300,000 Austrians, Prussians, Russians, 
and Swedes. 

We have not space to describe the multitudinous details of 
this mighty struggle, which continued with unabated fury for three 
days, October 16th, 17th, and 18th. It need scarcely be said that 
the generalship shown by Napoleon in this famous contest lacked 
nothing of his usual brilliancy, and that he was ably seconded by 
Ney, Murat, Augereau, and others of his famous generals, yet the 
overwhelming numbers of the enemy enabled them to defy all the 
valor of the French and the resources of their great leader, and at 
evening of the 18th the armies still faced each other in battle array, 
the fate of the field yet undecided. 

Napoleon was in no condition to renew the combat. During 
the long affray the French had expended no less than 250,000 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 153 

cannon balls. They had but 16,000 left, which two hours' firing 
would exhaust. Reluctantly he gave the order to retreat, and all 
that night the wearied and disheartened troops filed through the 
gates of Leipzig, leaving a rear-guard in the city, who defended it 
bravely against the swarming multitude of the foe. A disastrous 
blunder terminated their stubborn defense. Orders had been left 
to blow up the bridge across the Elster, but the mine was, by mis- 
take, set off too soon, and the gallant garrison, 12,000 in number, 
with a multitude of sick and wounded, was forced to surrender 
as prisoners of war. 

THE EMPIRE GOES TO PIECES 

The end was drawing near. Vigorously pursued, the French 
reached the Rhine by forced marches, defeating with heavy loss 
the army of Austrians and Bavarians which sought to block their 
way. The stream was crossed and the French were once more 
upon their own soil. After years of contest, Germany was finally 
freed from Napoleon's long-victorious hosts. 

Marked results followed. The carefully organized work of 
Napoleon's policy quickly fell to pieces. The kingdom of West- 
phalia was dissolved. The elector of Hesse and the dukes of Bruns- 
wick and Oldenburg returned to the thrones from which they had 
been driven. The Confederation of the Rhine ceased to exist, 
and its states allied themselves with Austria. Denmark, long 
faithful to France, renounced its alliance in January, 1814. Austria 
regained possession of Lombardy, the duke of Tuscany returned 
to his capital, and the Pope, Pius VII, long held captive by Napoleon, 
went back in triumph to Rome. A few months sufficed to break 
down the edifice of empire slowly reared through so many years, 
and almost all Europe outside of France united itself in hostility 
to its hated foe. 

Napoleon was offered peace if he would accept the Rhine as 
the French frontier, but his old infatuation and trust in his genius 
prevailed over the dictates of prudence, he treated the offer in his 



154 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

usual double-dealing way, and the allies, convinced that there could 
be no stable peace while he remained on the throne, decided to cross 
the Rhine and invade France. 

Biucher led his columns across the stream on the first day of 
1814, Schwarzenberg marched through Switzerland into France, 
and Wellington crossed the Pyrenees. Napoleon, like a wolf brought 
to bay, sought to dispose of his scattered foes before they would 
unite, and began with Biucher, whom he defeated five times in 
as many days. The allies, still in dread of their great opponent, 
once more offered him peace, but his success robbed him of wisdom, 
he demanded more than they were willing to give, and his enemies, 
encouraged by a success gained by Biucher, broke off the nego- 
tiations and marched on Paris, now bent on the dethronement of 
their dreaded antagonist. 

NAPOLEON EXILED TO ELBA 

A few words will bring the story of this contest to an end. 
France was exhausted, its army was incapable of coping with the 
serried battalions marshalled against it, Paris surrendered before 
Napoleon could come to its defense, and in the end the emperor, 
vacillating and in despair, was obliged, on April 7, 1814, to sign an 
unconditional act of abdication. The Powers of Europe awarded 
him as a kingdom the diminutive island of Elba, in the Mediter- 
ranean, with an annual income of 2,000,000 francs and an army 
composed of 400 of his famous guard. The next heir to the throne 
returned as Louis XVIII. France was given back its old frontier 
of 1492, the foreign armies withdrew from her soil, and the career 
of the great Corsican seemed at an end. 

In spite of their long experience with Napoleon, the event 
proved that the Powers of Europe knew not all the audacity and 
mental resources of the man with whom they had to deal. They 
had made what might have proved a fatal error in giving him an 
asylum so near the coast of France, whose people, intoxicated with 
the dream of glory through which he had so long led them, would 



DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 155 

be sure to respond enthusiastically to an appeal to rally to his 
support. 

The Powers were soon to learn their error. While the Congress 
of Vienna, convened to restore the old constitution of Europe, was 
deliberating and disputing, its members were startled by the news 
that the dethroned emperor was again upon the soil of France, and 
that Louis XVIII was in full flight for the frontier. Napoleon 
had landed on March 1, 1815, and set out on his return to Paris, 
the army and the people rapidly gathering to his support. On the 
30th he entered the Tuileries in a blaze of triumph, the citizens, 
thoroughly dissatisfied with their brief experience of Bourbon rule, 
going mad with enthusiasm in his welcome. 

THE HUNDRED DAYS 

Thus began the famous period of the "Hundred Days." The 
Powers declared Napoleon to be the "enemy of nations," and armed 
a half million of men for his final overthrow. The fate of his desper- 
ate attempt was soon decided. For the first time he was to meet 
the British in battle, and in Wellington to encounter the only man 
who had definitely made head against his legions. A British 
army was dispatched in all haste to Belgium, Blucher with his 
Prussians hastened to the same region, and the mighty final struggle 
was at hand. The unrelenting enemies of the Corsican conqueror, 
the British islanders, were to be the agents of his overthrow. 

The little kingdom of Belgium was the scene of the momentous 
contest that brought Napoleon's marvelous career to an end. 
Thither he led his army, largely made up of new conscripts; and 
thither the English and the Prussians hastened to meet him. On 
June 16, 1815, the prelude to the great battle took place. Napoleon 
met Blucher at Ligny and defeated him; then, leaving Grouchy 
to pursue the Prussians, he turned against his island foes. On the 
same day Ney encountered the forces of Wellington at Quatre Bras, 
but failed to drive them back. On the 17th Wellington took a new 
position at Waterloo, and awaited there his great antagonist. 



156 DECLINE AND FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

END OF NAPOLEON'S CAREER 

June 18, 1815, was the crucial day in Napoleon's career, the one 
in which his power was to fall, never to rise again. The stupen- 
dous struggle, as Wellington himself described it, was "a, battle of 
giants." Long the result wavered in the balance. All day long the 
British sustained the desperate assaults of their antagonists. Terri- 
ble was the contest, frightful the loss of life. Hour after hour 
passed, charge after charge was hurled by Napoleon against the 
British lines, which still closed up over the dead and stood firm; 
and it seemed as if night would fall with the two armies unflinchingly 
face to face, neither of them victor in the terrible fray. 

The arrival of Bliicher with his Prussians turned the scale. 
To Napoleon's bitter disappointment Grouchy, who should have 
been close on the heels of the Prussians, failed to appear, and the 
weary and dejected French were left to face these fresh troops 
without support. Napoleon's Old Guard in vain flung itself into 
the gap, and the French nation long repeated in pride the saying 
attributed to the commander of this famous corps, "The guard 
dies, but it never surrenders." 

In the end the French army broke and fled in disastrous rout, 
three-fourths of the whole force being left dead, wounded, or 
prisoners, while all its artillery became the prize of the victors. 
Napoleon, pale and confused, was led by Soult from the battle-field. 
It was his last fight. His abdication was demanded, and he 
resigned the crown in favor of his son. A hopeless and unnerved 
fugitive, he fled from Paris to Rochefort, hoping to escape to 
America. But the British fleet held that port, and in despair he 
went on board a vessel of the fleet, trusting himself to the honor 
of the British nation. But the statesmen of England had no 
sympathy with the vanquished adventurer, from whose ambition 
Europe had suffered so terribly. He was sent as a state prisoner 
to the island of St. Helena, there to end his days. His final hour 
of glory came in 1842, when his ashes were brought in pomp to Paris, 
where they found a final resting-place in the Hotel des Invalides. 



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CHAPTER IX 

The Congress of Vienna 

Radical Changes in the Map of Europe 

Map-Making — Empire Building — Membership of the Congress — Reaction the Order 
of the Day — Brief Summary of Changes — Excesses of the Congress — Confederation 
of the Rhine — How other Countries Fared — Character of the Work done — The Rights 

of the People. 

fir"VHE terrific struggle of the "Hundred Days," which followed 
Napoleon's return from Elba and preceded his exile to St. 
Helena, made a serious break in the deliberations of the 
Congress of Vienna, convened by the victorious Powers for the 
purpose of recasting the map of Europe, which Napoleon had so 
sadly transformed, of setting aside the radical work of the French 
Revolution, and, in a word, of turning back the hands of the clock 
of time. Twenty-five years of such turmoil and volcanic distur- 
bance as Europe had rarely known were at an end; the ruling powers 
were secure of their own again; the people, worn out with the long 
and bitter struggle, welcomed eagerly the return of rest and peace; 
and the emperors and kings deemed it a suitable time to throw over- 
board the load of new ideas under which the European "Ship of 
State" seemed to them likely to founder. 

map-making 

The art of map-making, that of recasting the boundaries of 
countries and throwing into the waste heap the carefully prepared 
maps of the past, is one that goes on side by side with that of war, 
and is put into effect as one of its most common results. In our 
days the widening of the borders of victorious countries and narrow- 
ing of those of defeated nations is one of the chief results of war, 
and numerous instances of it might be cited. Of recent examples 

(157) 



158 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

may be named the taking of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine 
from France and adding them to Germany in 1871, an injury which 
France still bitterly resents and to retrieve which became the most 
prominent object of the French people in taking part in the war of 
1914. A second instance of considerable interest was that which 
followed the Balkan War of 1912-13, succeeding which decided 
changes in the boundaries of the countries involved took place, 
one of its results being the founding of a new and turbulent nation, 
that of Albania. 

EMPIRE BUILDING 

In this work of empire building history presents few instances 
to compare with that arising from the Napoleonic wars, which led 
to the boundaries of the empire of France being enormously extended, 
while the multitude of minor states in Germany were in considerable 
measure swept out of existence, their relics being used for the build- 
ing up of fewer and larger states. As we have already seen, the 
remnant of the once powerful kingdom of Poland was at this time 
dismembered and divided between the great robber nations surround- 
ing — Austria, Russia and Prussia. It would be difficult to find an 
example of national brigandage surpassing this in political depravity 
and indignity, since even the ordinary pretence of warlike retribu- 
tion was lacking. It is something which the Polish people have 
never forgotten or forgiven, and efforts to placate them and obtain 
their earnest aid were made alike by Germany and Russia at the 
opening of the war of 1914. 

We speak of these matters here from the fact that the Congress 
of Vienna, with which we are now concerned, was convened for the 
purpose of overthrowing the wholesale map-making of Napoleon 
and restoring the older condition of affairs so far as appeared 
possible or desirable. The task of the Congress was far from an 
easy one. Many of the smaller German States could not be 
restored to their original owners. Those who had benefited by 
occupying them were sure to protest effectively against giving 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 159 

them up, and all statesmen of sound judgment could not but 
perceive that Napoleon had done excellent work in destroying the 
intricate medieval division of Germany into minor units, much 
of it the work of robber barons of the past. As for the derelict 
"Holy Roman Empire," to attempt to restore it would be like 
lifting a fiction into the attitude of a fact. Such was the character 
of the problem which lay before the members of the Congress 
that had been convened to try and overthrow the work done by 
Napoleon's autocratic will. 

MEMBERSHIP OF THE CONGRESS 

The Congress of Vienna, opened in September, 1814, was, 
in its way, a brilliant gathering. It included, mainly as hand- 
some ornaments, the emperors of Russia and Austria, the kings 
of Prussia, Denmark, Bavaria and Wurtemberg; and, as its 
working element, the leading statesmen of Europe, notably the 
English Castlereagh and Wellington, the French Talleyrand, the 
Prussian Hardenberg, and the Austrian Metternich. Checked 
in its deliberations for a time by Napoleon's fierce hundred days' 
death struggle, it quickly settled down to work again, having 
before it the vast task of undoing the mighty results of a quarter 
of a century of revolution. For the French Revolution had 
broadened into a European revolution, with Napoleon and his 
armies as its great instruments. The whole continent had been sown 
thickly with the French ideas of human rights, and a crop of new 
demands had grown up, not easily to be uprooted. 

The exile of Napoleon to Elba had been followed by a treaty 
at Paris, in which the widely expanded borders of the French empire 
were forced back within their original limits, France surrendering 
fifty-eight fortified places still held by its troops, 12,000 pieces of 
artillery, and a considerable number of warships. After the final 
Napoleonic downfall at Waterloo a second treaty of Paris had 
been signed, November 20, 1815, through which France lost still 
more heavily, more territory was taken, a war indemnity of over 



160 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

1,000,000,000 francs was exacted, and arrangements were made for 
five years of foreign occupation. 

KEACTION THE ORDER OF THE DAY 

Reaction was the order of the day in the Vienna Congress. The 
shaken power of the monarchs was to be restored, the map of Europe 
to be readjusted, the people to be put back into the submissive 
condition which they had occupied before that eventful 1789, when 
the States-General of France began its momentous work of destroy- 
ing the equilibrium of the world. As for the people of Europe, deeply 
infected as they were with the new ideas of liberty and the rights 
of man, which had made their way far beyond the borders of France, 
they were for the time worn out with strife and turmoil, and settled 
back supinely to enjoy the welcome era of rest, leaving their fate 
for the present in the hands of the astute plenipotentiaries who 
were gathered in their wisdom at Vienna. 

These worthy tools of the monarchs had an immense task 
before them — too large a one, as it proved. It was easy to talk 
about restoring to the nations the territory they had possessed 
before Napoleon began his career as a map-maker; but it was 
not easy to do so except at the cost of new wars. The territories 
of many of the Powers had been added to by the French emperor, 
and they were not likely to give up their new possessions without 
protest, if not war. In Germany the changes, as already stated, 
had been enormous. Napoleon had found there more than three 
hundred separate states, some no larger than a small American 
county, yet each possessed of the paraphernalia of a court and 
sovereign, a capital, an army and a public debt. And these were 
feebly combined into the phantasm known as the Holy Roman 
Empire. 

When Napoleon had finished his work this empire had ceased 
to exist except as a tradition, and the great galaxy of sovereign 
states was reduced to thirty-nine. These included the great 
dominions of Austria and Prussia; the smaller states of Bavaria, 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 161 

Saxony, Hanover and Wiirtemberg, which Napoleon had raised 
into kingdoms; and a vastly reduced group of minor states. The 
work done here it was somewhat dangerous to meddle with. The 
small potentates of Germany were like so many bull-dogs, glaring 
jealously across their new borders, and ready to fly at one another's 
throats at any suggestion of a change. The utmost they would 
yield was to be united into a confederacy called the Bund, with a 
Diet meeting at Frankfort. But as the delegates to the Diet were 
given no law-making power, the Bund became an empty farce. 

BRIEF SUMMARY OF CHANGES 

The great Powers took care to regain their lost possessions, or 
to replace them with an equal amount of territory. Prussia and 
Austria spread out again to their old size, though they did not cover 
quite the old ground. Most of their domains in Poland were given 
up, Prussia getting new territory in West Germany and Austria 
in Italy. These provinces in Poland were ceded to Alexander of 
Russia, who added them to his own Polish dominions, and formed 
a new kingdom of Poland, with himself as king. So in a shadowy 
way Poland was brought to life again. Britain got for her share in 
the spoils a number of French and Dutch colonies, including Malta 
and the Cape Colony in Africa. Thus each of the great Powers 
repaid itself for its losses. 

In Italy a variety of changes were made. The Pope got back 
the States of the Church; Tuscany was restored to its king; the 
same was the case with Naples, King Murat, Napoleon's old Mar- 
shal, being driven from his throne and put to death. Piedmont, 
increased by the Republic of Genoa, was restored to the king of 
Sardinia. Some smaller states were formed, as Parma, Modena 
and Lucca. Finally Lombardy and Venice, much the richest 
regions of Italy, were annexed to Austria, which country was made 
the dominant power in the Italian peninsula. 

Louis XVIII, the Bourbon king, brother of Louis XVI, who had 
reigned while Napoleon was at Elba, came back to the throne of 



162 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

France. The title of Louis XVII had been given to the poor boy, son 
of Louis XVI, who had died from cruel treatment in the dungeons 
of the Revolution. In Spain the feeble Ferdinand returned to the 
throne which he had given up without a protest at the command 
of Napoleon. Portugal was granted a monarch of its old dynasty. 
All seemed to have floated back into the old conditions again. 

EXCESSES OF THE CONGRESS 

In fuller review of the work of the Congress, it is a matter 
well worthy of interest to note that all the excesses with which 
Napoleon had been reproached were repeated there; the four 
sovereigns (of Russia, Britain, Prussia and Austria) who had set 
themselves up as the instruments of Providence against revolu- 
tionary France, rearranging the map of Europe to the advantage of 
their ambition. A veritable market of men was held. The com- 
mission entrusted with reapportioning the human flock among the 
kings, known by the significant name of Valuation Commission, 
was very much taken up with the demands of Prussia, which 
claimed an indemnity of three million three hundred thousand 
souls. They went so far as to discuss the quality of the mer- 
chandise, and they did France the honor of acknowledging that a 
former Frenchman of Aix-la-Chapelle or Cologne was worth more 
than a Pole; so, to equalize the division, they gave fewer men on 
the left bank of the Rhine than on the right bank of the Oder. 
While the four Powers were in accord, there were no ecclesiastical 
princes, and the free cities were a cheap booty that was divided 
unscrupulously. At one time this trade in subjects, however, 
came near leading to the rupture of the coalition. Russia and 
Prussia had come to an understanding that would give the former 
the whole of Poland and the latter all of Saxony hi exchange for its 
Polish provinces. " Everyone must find what suits him," the 
Czar had said. But Britain, Austria and France agreed, in a secret 
treaty, to make this plan fail, and the French ambassador, Talley- 
rand, succeeded in saving the king of Saxony; but at the same 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 163 

time he compromised France by proposing to give to Prussia, in 
exchange for the Saxon provinces which it wanted, those of the 
Rhine, which it did not want. 

Britain had no territorial claim to make on the continent; 
it had obtained restitution to its royal house of the Electorate of 
Hanover, along with some additions of territory; but as Hanover 
was a male fief, a separation was foreseen that took place in 1837. 
However, it could well remain satisfied with keeping what it had 
acquired on the sea during its struggle against the Revolution and 
the Empire — Heligoland, opposite the mouths of the Elbe and the 
Weser; the protectorate of the Ionian Islands, at the entrance to 
the Adriatic; Malta, between Sicily and Africa; Santa Lucia and 
Tabago, in the Antilles; the Seychelles and the Isle of France, in 
the Indian Ocean; the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope, 
and the island of Ceylon. 

France, while diminished by the increase in power of the four 
great states, was still a large and important country, and seemed 
formidable enough for precautions to be taken against it along its 
frontiers, these having been left open to future invasions. The 
coalition established as its outposts the following countries: on 
the north Belgium and Holland, united in a single kingdom under 
the scepter of the Prince of Orange; on the northeast the Rhenish 
country, divided between Prussia, which got the largest share, 
Holland, which obtained Luxembourg, and Limbourg, Hesse- 
Darmstadt and Bavaria, France's old ally, which was put at its 
doors to become its enemy. Lastly, in the south the re-establish- 
ment of Savoy and Piedmont placed Lyons, France's second capital, 
within two days march of the coalition's armies. 

CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE 

The most difficult matter had been the reconstruction of the 
Confederation of the Rhine, which was turned anew against France 
under the name of the Germanic Confederation. Long and violent 
debates in the Congress arose on this subject, the small states 



164 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

making energetic efforts to save their independence. Those who 
held for German unity, and even Prussia, wished to restore the old 
empire of Germany. Austria dared not resume the ancient crown 
of the Hapsburgs, and the kings of Bavaria and Wurtemberg did 
not mean to let fall from their heads those which Napoleon had 
placed upon them. Already, when there was question of the 
spoliation of Saxony, Bavaria had promised thirty thousand men 
to Talleyrand if France, united with Austria and England, wished 
to throw Prussia back into Brandenburg and Russia behind the 
Vistula; and Wurtemberg, Hanover, Baden and Hesse were in 
accord with this. It was agreed that the empire destroyed in 1806 
could not be restored; and when the news of the return from Elba 
came, the Confederation of the Rhine was formed, a device thus 
irreverently characterized: "A hut to shelter Germany during 
the storm was built in great haste, a wretched shelter which the 
princes themselves destroyed later on." This Confederation was 
to be composed of thirty-nine states sending deputies to a diet at 
Frankfort, the perpetual presidency of which would devolve on 
Austria. 

That diet was to consist of two assemblies, the one ordinary, 
with seventeen votes (that is, one vote for each of the large 
states, and one also for each of the groups into which the small 
states had been arranged); and the general assembly, in which 
each state had a number of votes in proportion to its impor- 
tance, in all sixty-nine votes. The former would decide current 
business; the latter was to be convened whenever there was ques- 
tion of the fundamental laws or of the great interests of the federal 
pact. The Confederates would retain their sovereign indepen- 
dence, their armies, and their diplomatic representation. But the 
Confederation would also have its own army and fortresses, these 
to be built out of the indemnity paid by France — Luxembourg, 
Mayence and Landau, to close against France the approach to the 
Rhine; Rastadt and Ulm, to keep it at the foot of the Black 
Forest or in the valley of the Danube. 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 165 

HOW THE OTHER COUNTRIES FARED. 

In Switzerland, Geneva and Vaud were enlarged at the 
expense of France with a part of the Gex country and some com- 
munes of Savoy; Valais, Geneva and Neufchatel, added to the 
nineteen old cantons, formed the Helvetian Confederation, which 
the Congress placed under the guarantee of perpetual neutrality. 
In Italy the king of the Two Sicilies and the Pope recovered what 
they had lost; but Austria again became omnipotent in the penin- 
sula. Mistress of the Milanese and Venetia, it made sure of the 
right bank of the Po by the privilege of putting a garrison in 
Piacenza, Ferrara and Comacchio; it had placed an archduke on 
the throne of Tuscany, stipulated the revertibility to the imperial 
crown of the duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, ceded for 
life to the ex-Empress Maria Louisa, and of that of Modena, given 
to an Austrian prince. In the last place, though he had received 
Genoa and Savoy, the king of Piedmont, poorly defended by the 
Ticino frontier, seemed at the mercy of his formidable neighbor. 
In the north of Europe Sweden, in compensation for Finland 
taken by Russia, received Norway taken from Denmark, which 
was to obtain in compensation Swedish Pomerania and Rugen; 
but Prussia, bitter against that small state, the only one that had 
remained faithful to France's fortunes, imposed on it the exchange 
of these countries for Lauenburg. That duchy, like Holstein, was, 
moreover, but the personal domain of the king, who, with regard to 
these two German provinces, became a member of the Germanic 
Confederation, that, is, of a state organized against France. Den- 
mark in 1864 and France in 1870 were to feel the effect of these 
artificial combinations. 

CHARACTER OF THE WORK DONE 

The Germanic Confederation seemed well adapted to assuring 
the peace of the continent by separating three great military 
states. The mutual jealousies of Austria and Prussia, the distrust 



166 THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

of the small states in regard to the large ones, the delays resulting 
from the complicated play of the Germanic Institutions, forearmed 
Germany against sudden impulses. Between three countries of 
rapid action, Russia turning to account ideas of race and religion 
to the advantage of an age-long policy, Britain obeying the mer- 
cantile spirit, and France too prostrate to precipitate revolutions, 
Germany, the classic land of long negotiations, could interpose a 
temporizing spirit. By the very nature of its institutions, living on 
perpetual compromises, the Confederation represented in European 
affairs the spirit of arrangement, which is that of diplomacy. But, 
to render effective service to the peace of the world, this Confed- 
eration — organized for defense and not for attack, and independent 
of Berlin as well as of Vienna — should have formed a real Ger- 
many, neither French as in the time of Napoleon, nor Prussian as 
it has been for more than a generation. 

The two great Powers meant, on the contrary, to put their 
strength at the service of their interests. Austria, occupying but 
a strip of German territory at its border, would remain satisfied 
with exerting influenGe at Frankfort. Prussia would want more. 
As it needed Hanover to unite its Rhenish province with Branden- 
burg, and as it needed a slice of Poland to connect the Electorate 
with the countries of the Teutonic order, so it would make itself 
ever more and more German; it would cause to be said every- 
where, in the pulpit and in the press, that it was the hope, the 
personification of the German party, and one day it would drive 
Austria out of Germany, another day it would take Frankfort, 
nay, even the Diet, and it would lead the Germanic Confederation 
to suicide, becoming its sole legatee. But at this period, 1S15, 
Prussia was far from having a dream of this greatness. It had, as 
yet, no Bismarck, the man whose hand was to lead it to glory. 

THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE 

As for the rights of the people, in these varied changes, what 
had become of them? Had they been swept away and the old 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 167 

wrongs of the people been brought back? Not quite. The 
frenzied enthusiasm for liberty and human rights of the past 
twenty-five years could not go altogether for nothing. The linger- 
ing relics of feudalism had vanished, not only from France but 
from all Europe, and no monarch or congress could bring them 
back again. In its place the principles of democracy had spread 
from France far among the peoples of Europe. The principle of 
class privilege had been destroyed in France, and that of social 
equality had replaced it. The principle of the liberty of the 
individual, especially in his religious opinions, and the doctrine of 
the sovereignty of the people, had been proclaimed. These had 
still a battle before them. They needed to fight their way. 
Absolutism and the spirit of feudalism were arrayed against them. 
But they were too deeply implanted in the minds of the people 
to be eradicated. They had been carried by the armies of France 
throughout Europe and deeply planted in a hundred places, and 
their establishment as actual conditions was the most important 
part of the political development of the nineteenth century. 

Revolution was the one thing that the great Powers of Europe 
feared and hated; this was the monster against which the Congress 
of Vienna directed its efforts. The cause of quiet and order, the 
preservation of the established state of things, the authority of 
rulers, the subordination of peoples, must be firmly maintained, 
and revolutionary disturbers must be put down with a strong hand. 
Such was the political dogma of the Congress. And yet, in spite 
of its assembled wisdom and the principles it promulgated, the 
century that followed was especially the century of revolutions, 
the result being an extraordinary increase in the liberties and 
prerogatives of the people. 



CHAPTER X 

The Holy Alliance and Its Unholy Work 

Events Leading to the Monroe Doctrine and the Foreign 
Policy of the United States. 

Significance of the Name — A Dangerous Doctrine — Revolution in Spain and Naples — 
Work of the Holy Alliance in Italy — The Spanish Revolt put down — The Allies gain 
Freedom for Greece — Liberty for Spanish-America — The Birth of the Monroe Doctrine. 

WE have not yet told the whole story of the Congress of 
Vienna. While arranging for a new distribution of 
power and authority in Europe, it took another seem- 
ingly necessary step; that of providing an instrumentality for 
making its work durable. The plan devised by the Congress for 
the suppression of revolution by the restless population of Europe, 
wrought to desperation by the effort of the imperial autocrats to 
rob them of the liberties which they had for a brief period enjoyed, 
was the establishment of an association of monarchs which adopted 
the grandiloquent title of the Holy Alliance. It included Alexander 
of Russia, Francis of Austria, and Frederick William of Prussia, 
men whose ideas of holiness embraced the recognition of their 
august majesties as the deities of a new religion. 

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NAME 

These devout autocrats proposed to rule in accordance with 
the precepts of the Bible, to stand by each other in a true frater- 
nity, to govern their subjects like loving parents, and to see that 
peace, justice, and religion should flourish in their dominions. An 
ideal scheme it was, but its promulgators soon won the name of 
hypocrites and the hatred of those whom they were to deal with 
on the principle of love and brotherhood. Reaction was the 
watchword, absolute sovereignty the purpose, the eradication of 

(168) 



HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 169 

the doctrine of popular sovereignty the sentiment which animated 
these powerful monarchs; and the Holy Alliance meant practically 
the determination to unite their forces against democracy and 
revolution wherever they should show themselves. They may have 
felt that the existing system was the best of all possible systems and 
that all who opposed it were enemies of wholesome government. 

Their promises had been sufficiently gratifying. Under the 
inspiration of the Czar Alexander a treaty or compact was signed 
by the trio of autocrats, in which they proposed to manifest 
"before the whole world their unalterable determination to adopt 
as the rule of their conduct, whether in the administration of their 
respective states or in their political relations with every other 
government, the precepts of the Christian religion, precepts of 
justice, of charity and of peace." 

In the first article of this compact they pledged themselves to 
regard one another as "brothers," in the second they agreed "to 
show one another unalterable good will," regarding themselves as 
"delegated by Providence to govern three branches of one and the 
same family, namely, Austria, Prussia and Russia," to form them 
into a single Christian nation, having as sovereign "Him to whom 
alone belongs power as a property, because in Him are found all 
the treasures of love, knowledge and infinite wisdom." 

A DANGEROUS DOCTRINE 

It is rather dangerous for any man or group of men, however 
abundantly they regard themselves to be filled with the sentiments 
of fatherly and brotherly love, to undertake to think and act for 
millions of subjects likely to be affected by very different ideas and 
aspirations. Such individuals are too apt to imagine that to 
them belong "the earth and the fulness thereof," that their word is 
law, their ideas wisdom, their political views the only just and true 
ones. In consequence, even when moved by the best intentions, 
they frequently cause more mischief than they can cure. Such 
was certainly the case with the imperial members of the Holy 



170 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 

Alliance. Satisfied in their minds that the existing status of 
society was the one designed by the Creator of the Universe, they 
were vigorously bent on .maintaining it and putting down with a 
vigorous hand any one who presumed to hold different views. 

A remark made by the Czar Alexander shows luminously how 
little he was fitted to act as the arbiter of fate to his subjects. 
"You are ever speaking to me of principles," he said to one of his 
advisers. "I do not know what they are; what attention do you 
think I pay to your parchments or your treaties?" Such was the 
man who proposed to act as the vicegerent of God, and who had 
just taken a leading part in the dividing up of Europe on new lines, 
often with sublime indifference to the aspirations of the peoples or 
the rights of the former or present rulers. Thus Belgium was 
forcibly attached to Holland, in utter disregard of Belgian public 
opinion. Italy was in the same arbitrary way handed over to 
Austria, with equal disregard of public sentiment. So unwise, in 
fact, proved the autocratic allies that the edifice they thus labori- 
ously built was quickly shaken by the hand of revolt; so rudely 
indeed that it rapidly began to fall to pieces, and in little over 
half a century had disappeared. 

It was not long before the people began to move. The 
attempt to re-establish absolute governments shook them out of 
their sluggish quiet. Revolution lifted its head in the face of the 
Holy Alliance, its first field being Spain. Ferdinand VII, on 
returning to his throne, had but one purpose in his weak mind, 
which was to rule as an autocrat, as his ancestors had done. He 
swore to govern according to a constitution, and began his reign 
with a perjury. The patriots had formed a constitution during 
his absence, and this he set aside and failed to replace by another. 
On the contrary, he set out to abolish all the reforms made by 
Napoleon, and to restore the monasteries, to bring back the Inquisi- 
tion, and to prosecute the patriots. Five years of this reaction 
made the state of affairs in Spain so intolerable that the liberals 
refused to submit to it any longer. In 1820 they rose in revolt, 



HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 171 

and the king, a coward under all his show of bravery, at once 
gave way and restored the constitution he had set aside. 

REVOLUTION IN SPAIN AND NAPLES 

The shock given the Holy Alliance by the news from Spain 
was quickly followed by another coming from Naples. The Bour- 
bon king who had been replaced upon the throne of that country, 
another Ferdinand, was one of the most despicable men of his not 
greatly esteemed race. His government, while weak, was harshly 
oppressive. But it did not need a revolution to frighten this royal 
dastard. A mere general celebration of the victory of the liberals 
in Spain was enough, and in his alarm he hastened to give his 
people a constitution similar to that which the Spaniards had 
gained. 

These awkward affairs sadly disturbed the equanimity of those 
statesmen who fancied that they had fully restored the divine 
right of kings, and of the monarchs who held that they were called 
upon by God to govern their subjects in their own way. Metter- 
nich, the Austrian advocate of reaction, hastened to call a new 
Congress, in 1820, and another in 1821. The question he put to 
these asemblies was: Should revolution be permitted, or should 
Europe interfere in Spain and Naples, and pledge herself to uphold 
everywhere the sacred powers of legitimate monarchs? His old 
friends of the Holy Alliance backed him up in this suggestion, both 
Congresses adopted it, a policy of repression of revolutions became 
the program, and Austria was charged to restore what Metternich 
called " order" in Naples. 

While those at the head of affairs were thus engaged in formu- 
lating their views, the demand for liberty and human rights was 
growing more insistent among the people, secret revolutionary 
societies were widely formed, and a perilous insurrectionary spirit 
was evidently abroad. The result was a determination in the 
minds of the monarchs to proceed against this growing anarchy 
before it gained too great headway, and to begin by putting down 



172 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 

the revolutionists in the two kingdoms in which they had recently 
triumphed, Spain and Naples. 

WORK OF THE HOLY ALLIANCE IN ITALY 

There was no evident intention to make a distinction between 
just grievances and inopportune demands. The revolutions in 
Greece, Spain, Naples and Turin were represented in a circular 
note "as being of the same origin and worthy of the same fate." 
If no measure was taken against the Greeks, it was because Russia 
was interested in that revolt of its coreligionists, since this would 
give it allies within the Turkish empire. As for Italy, Austria 
took it upon herself to destroy there "the false doctrines and 
criminal associations that have called down upon rebellious peoples 
the sword of justice." 

A numerous army, which was to be followed by one hundred 
thousand Russians, in case of need, set out from Lombardo-Venetia. 
At Rieti and Novara Pepe's and Santa Rosa's recruits could not 
hold out against the veterans of the great wars of the empire, and 
the Austrians entered Naples, Turin and Messina. Behind them 
the jails were filled and scaffolds were erected. Austria lent its 
prisons as well as its soldiers. There were sixteen thousand at one 
time in the prisons of the two Sicilies, and in 1822 there were also 
witnessed in the kingdom nine cases of capital punishment for 
political offenses. In Piedmont all the leaders who could be caught 
were decapitated — the others were executed in effigy. No insurrec- 
tion had broken out in the States of the Church, properly so called; 
yet four hundred persons were imprisoned there, and many were 
condemned to death, but the Pope commuted the sentence. The 
notable Piedmontese, Silvio Pellico, has told with the gentleness of a 
martyr what tortures were added to captivity by that pitiless policy. 

THE SPANISH REVOLT PUT DOWN 

The Holy Alliance next decided to undertake the same work 
of repression beyond the Pyrenees. There savage outrages had 



HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 173 

been perpetrated on both sides. To dispel the suspicions which 
France had for a moment inspired by its hesitancy regarding 
Austrian intervention in Italy, Louis XVIII's government asked 
permission to suppress in Spain agitations that threatened to 
reach the southern departments of France. England, where 
irritation was increasing against the pretensions of the Holy Alliance 
to regulate the affairs of Europe, held aloof, there being much 
difference of opinion among its statesmen. 

The French army commanded by the Duke of Angouleme 
entered Spain on April 7, 1823. It had few occasions to fight and 
encountered serious resistance only at Cadiz, which it besieged. On 
August 31st it captured by assault the strong position of the 
Trocadero, and this success brought about the surrender of the city. 
The army carried its liberal spirit into Spain. Its officers opened 
the prisons confining men whose crime was the spreading of ideas 
similar to those of France, and Angouleme sought to prevent acts 
of violence on the part of a royalist reaction, and to stop arbitrary 
arrests and executions. 

But Ferdinand did not mean that his saviors should impose 
conditions on him. The military commissions were implacable. 
Riego, seriously wounded, was carried to the gibbet on a hurdle 
drawn by an ass; at one and the same place fifty-two companions 
of a cabecilla were put to death. A counter-revolution was effected 
at Lisbon as well as at Madrid. There the king declared the con- 
stitution abolished and restored absolute power for a few months. 
Despite the congratulations sent by the secular rulers and the 
Pope to the honest but not brilliant French prince who had led 
this easy campaign, the elder branch of the Bourbons failed to 
gain enough military glory by it to become reconciled with the 
country. Men saw in that expedition only French soldiers placed 
at the service of a knavish and cruel king, and the finances of 
France saddled with an expense of two hundred millions. But 
small as it was, success inspired the reactionist ministry with a 
confidence in their plans, which the elections, held under a peculiarly 



174 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 

restrictive law, further increased by admitting to the Chamber 
only nineteen Liberal Deputies. 

THE ALLIES GAIN FREEDOM FOR GREECE 

Only in two regions did the spirit of revolt triumph during 
this period of reaction. These were Greece and Spanish America. 
The historic land of Greece had long been in the hands of a des- 
potism with which even the Holy Alliance was not in sympathy — 
that of Turkey. Its very name, as a modern country, had almost 
vanished, and Europe heard with astonishment in 1821 that the 
descendants of the ancient Greeks had risen against the tyranny 
under which they had been crushed for centuries. 

The struggle was a bitter one. The sultan was atrocious in 
his cruelties. In the island of Chios alone he brutally murdered 
20,000 Greeks. But the spirit of the old Athenians and Spartans 
was in the people, and they kept on fighting in the face of defeat. 
For four years this went on, while the Powers of Europe looked 
on without raising a hand. Some of their people indeed took part, 
among them Lord Byron, who died in Greece in 1824; but the 
governments failed to warm up to their duty. 

In fact, the governments, even the British, at first condemned 
the revolt of the Greek patriots. The view of British statesmen 
was that the struggle for Greek liberty compromised the existence 
of Turkey, the preservation of which was thought to be essential 
to the security of the British empire in India. Evidently self- 
interest weighed heavier than human rights. 

" British Liberalism," said Chateaubriand, "wears the liberty 
cap in Mexico and the turban at Athens." As for the Holy 
Alliance, it saw in that insurrection only a revolt, and, by a strange 
application of the doctrine of Divine right, it pretended that its 
principle of legitimacy had to protect the throne of the head of 
the Osmanlis. "Do not say Greeks," Nicholas said one day in 
1826 hi answer to Wellington, who was speaking to him of Eng- 
land's sympathy for them; "do not say Greeks, but insurgents 



HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 175 

against the Sublime Porte. I will no more protect their revolt 
than I would wish to see the Porte protect a sedition among my 
subjects." 

Yet a few months later these words were superseded by acts 
far from being in keeping with them. The reason was that opinion 
in favor of the Hellenes was becoming irresistible; the whole of 
Liberal Europe espoused a cause heroically supported for national 
independence and religion. Sympathy was aroused, even among 
the conservatives, by the magical name Greece and by the struggle 
of Christians against Mussulmans; and in France as well as in 
England the finger of scorn would have been pointed at him who 
would not applaud the legendary exploits of Niketas, Bozzaris and 
Canaris, bold chiefs who led their palikars against the thickest 
ranks of the Janissaries and their fireships into the midst of the 
hostile squadrons. It had become necessary that the politicians 
should swim with the current of public opinion. Into it Canning 
easily drew England. This country, seeing Italy subject to Austrian 
influence, Spain returned to friendship with France, the Orient 
agitated by Russia's intrigues or threatened by its arms, was grow- 
ing uneasy for the security of the shores of the Mediterranean, 
to which higher commerce was about to return. In that sea it 
had indeed formidable supports in Gibraltar, Malta and the Ionian 
Islands; but these were fortresses, not provinces, and it was 
important for the security of the British interests in the Mediter- 
ranean that the rulers of Russia should not gain the mastery at 
Constantinople as those of Austria had done at Milan, Rome and 
Naples, and the Bourbon royal family at Madrid. 

The diversity of opinion and of interests, with the steady 
pressure upon national politics of an awakened public demand 
for Greek liberty, reached a desirable result in 1827, when the 
three most interested Powers, Great Britain, France and Russia, 
covenanted to put an end to the war of extermination then pro- 
ceeding in the Peloponnesus, through the barbarity of Ibrahim 
Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt. 



176 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 

The allied squadrons of these three Powers attacked the 
Ottoman fleet in Navarino Bay on October 20, 1827. When the 
battle was at an end the Ottoman fleet had ceased to exist. The 
victory had been an easy one, despite the boasting of the victors. 
It did not bring to an end the determination of the Turks to 
put down the insurgent Greeks, the maritime war being followed 
by one on land. Russia declared war against Turkey April 26, 
1828, and France sent 15,000 troops to the Morea to terminate 
the persistent Greek question, which then threatened to give xise 
to national complications. 

The long struggle of the Greeks for liberty, which they would 
have been unable to gain without external aid, culminated on the 
3d of February, 1830, when a protocol of the allied Powers proclaimed 
their independence. The Porte, unable longer to continue the 
struggle against its enemies, recognized Greek independence on 
April 25, 1830, and Greece was added to the states of Europe. 
A kingdom was established under Prince Otho of Bavaria, whose 
rule was for a time practically absolute, years passing before a 
system of constitutional government was gained. Otho held the 
throne, with steadily growing unpopularity, until 1863, when he 
was compelled to abdicate, being succeeded by Prince William 
George of Denmark as King George. 

LIBERTY FOR SPANISH AMERICA 

The story of the struggle for liberty in Spanish-America, with 
its gradual attainment during the first quarter of the nineteenth 
century, does not come within the scope of this work, except as 
an example of the prevalence of the desire for liberty throughout 
the civilized world, which in America had replaced the often bar- 
barous rule of Spain with a series of republics, copies of that of the 
great exemplar of republican government, the United States. 
Just here, however, is a matter worthy of consideration, as one 
of the last manifestations of vitality in the Holy Alliance. 

Not content with its "fraternal" work on the European con- 



HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 177 

tinent, the Holy Alliance turned an observing eye on the great 
continent across the Atlantic, in which there seemed a promising 
field for its benevolent interposition. Spain had met with severe 
reverses in America, retaining of its once vast colonial empire on 
that continent only the two islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. It 
naturally desired to regain the lost provinces, and King Ferdinand 
turned for aid to the great anti-liberal alliance, of which France 
then constituted a fourth member. The members of the alliance 
viewed the proposition favorably. It promised to add materially 
to the territory under their system of government, the God-given 
one, as they maintained, and also to enable each of them to add 
to its colonial possessions. The King of Spain, small in mental 
caliber as he was, did not imagine that the benevolence of the 
Alliance would stretch to the extent of returning all this terri- 
tory to him. He knew well that they proposed to pay themselves 
liberally for any service rendered him, and that he would have to 
be content with the portion they chose to leave him. If they 
should undertake to pull his chestnuts from the fire they doubt- 
less meant to keep a due share of the fruit. 

THE BIRTH OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE 

This very ingenious scheme did not remain a secret. George 
Canning, British minister for Foreign Affairs, discovered what 
was in view and did not approve of it. The British realm at that 
time had an active trade with the former Spanish colonies and this 
would be sure to decrease materially in the event of the territory 
of these colonies falling into the hands of the members of the Holy 
Alliance. He informed the American government of what was in 
the wind, and suggested that Britain and the United States should 
join in checking this proposed action. 

It was anything but welcome news to the United States. 

There was reason to believe that France would claim Cuba for her 

share of the spoils, thus securing not only a new foothold in America 

but a rich island very near the United States coast. There was 

12 



178 HOLY ALLIANCE AND ITS UNHOLY WORK 

also trouble brewing in the Pacific, where Russia held Alaska and 
claimed coastal possessions in that locality reaching nearly to San 
Francisco, and also declared that it had the right to keep the 
vessels of other nations out of the North Pacific. 

It was this state of affairs that gave rise to the famous " Mon- 
roe Doctrine," which in this way, therefore, was a direct outgrowth 
of the formation and purpose of the Holy Alliance. Canning's 
suggestion that the United States and Great Britain should join 
hands in dealing with this project did not appeal to President 
Monroe, who was an advocate of Washington's suggestion to avoid 
entangling alliances with any European Power. As it was, then, 
he acted for the United States alone, under the advice of John 
Quincy Adams, his secretary of state, and Thomas Jefferson, one 
of America's shrewdest statesmen. The result of their conference 
was the issue in 1823 of the "Monroe Doctrine," a declaration of 
policy that has more than once been effectively applied and 
which still exists in full force. 

One of the phrases of this celebrated doctrine — "The American 
continents, by the free and independent condition which they 
have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered 
as subjects for future colonization by any European Powers" — 
was specially directed against the colonizing purposes of Russia. 
Its concluding phrase reads: "With the governments who have 
declared their independence and maintain it, and whose inde- 
pendence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, 
acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the pur- 
pose of oppressing them or controlling in any other manner their 
destiny by an European Power in any other "light than as the mani- 
festation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States." 

This evidently was intended to warn off nations in general 
from meddling in American matters. It was effective so far as the 
Holy Alliance was concerned. Its projects fell dead, and with them 
the Alliance itself, for from this time forward it ceased to play 
a part in European politics. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Revolution of 1830 

Its Disintegrating Effect on National Conditions 

Reaction under Charles X — "Down with the Bourbons" — Louis Philippe on the Throne 
— Holland and Belgium Divide — Popular Movements in Germany and Italy — Poland 
in Arms — Prosperity in Great Britain — An Intolerable Situation — Representation in 
Parliament — Lord Russell's Great Speech — Effect of the 1830 Revolution — The 
Struggle for Reform — How Suffrage was Gained — The Corn-Laws Repealed. 



I 



"AHE work of the Holy Alliance outside of Greece had been 
measurably complete. Revolution, wherever else in Europe 
it ventured to show its head, had been ruthlessly put 
down. But though complete in the countries concerned, it was 
destined to prove temporary. The blessing of liberty, once enjoyed, 
could not so easily be taken away. 

The people merely bided their time. The good seed sown 
could not fail to bear fruit in its season. The spirit of revolution 
was in the air, and any attempt to rob the people of the degree of 
liberty which they enjoyed was very likely to precipitate a revolt 
against the tyranny of courts and kings. It came at length in 
France, that country being the ripest among the nations for revo- 
lution. Louis XVIII, an easy, good-natured old soul, of kindly dis- 
position towards the people, passed from life in 1824, and was 
succeeded by his brother, Count of Artois, as Charles X. 

REACTION UNDER CHARLES X 

The new king had been the head of the ultra-royalist faction, 
an advocate of despotism and feudalism, and quickly doubled the 
hate which the people bore him. Louis XVIII had been liberal 
in his policy, and had given increased privileges to the people. 
Under Charles reaction set in. A vast sum of money was voted 
to the nobles to repay their losses during the Revolution. Steps 

(179) 



180 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

were taken to muzzle the press and gag the universities. This 
was more than the Chamber of Deputies was willing to do, and 
it was dissolved. But the tyrant at the head of the government 
went on, blind to the signs in the air, deaf to the people's voice. 
If he could not get laws from the Chamber, he would make them 
himself in the old arbitrary fashion, and on July 26, 1830, he 
issued, under the advice of his prime minister, four decrees, which 
limited the list of voters and put an end to the freedom of the 
press. Practically, the constitution was set aside, the work of the 
Revolution ignored, and absolutism re-established in France. 

"down with the bourbons" 

King Charles had taken a step too far. He did not know 
the spirit of the French. In a moment Paris blazed into insur- 
rection. Tumult arose on every side. Workmen and students 
paraded the streets with enthusiastic cheers for the constitution. 
But under their voices there were soon heard deeper and more 
ominous cries. "Down with the ministers!" came the demand. 
And then, as the throng increased and grew more violent, arose 
the revolutionary slogan, "Down with the Bourbons!" The infatu- 
ated old king was amusing himself in his palace of St. Cloud, and 
did not discover that the crown was tottering upon his head. He 
knew that the people of Paris had risen, but looked upon it as a 
passing ebullition of French temper. He did not awake to the 
true significance of the movement until he heard that there had 
been fighting between his troops and the people, that many of the 
citizens lay dead in the streets, and that the soldiers had been driven 
from the city, which remained in the hands of the insurrectionists. 

Then the old imbecile, who had fondly fancied that the Revo- 
lution of 1789 could be set aside by a stroke of his pen, made 
frantic efforts to lay the demon he had called into life. He hastily 
canceled the tyrannical decrees. Finding that this would not 
have the desired effect, he abdicated the throne in favor of his 
grandson. But all was of no avail. France had had enough of 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 181 

him and his house. His envoys were turned back from the gates 
of Paris unheard. Remembering the fate of Louis XVI, his 
unhappy brother Charles X turned his back upon France and 
hastened to seek a refuge in England. 

France has long been the seed bed of revolution. That stren- 
uous and excitable people, who had won liberty by striking 
for it with all their strength in 1789, were not to let it be torn 
from their grasp by an aged imbecile. As the effect of the Revo- 
lution of 1789 was to stir up all Europe and make itself felt over 
half the world, the same was the case with the two subsequent 
revolutions which had their starting point in Paris, those of 1830 
and 1848. With the former of these we are here concerned. 

It might be supposed that the citizens of Paris, on getting 
rid of their incapable lung, would have decided that they had 
had sufficient experience of that kind of gentry and have re-estab- 
lished the republic which Napoleon had set aside. But such was 
not the event. A meeting of prominent citizens was called, and 
after deliberating on the situation, they decided that Charles X 
should be deposed and his heirs declared ineligible to the throne, 
but that another king should be selected to replace him, the crown 
being offered to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans. 

LOUIS PHILIPPE ON THE THRONE 

There had been a Louis Philippe concerned in the Revolution 
of 1789 and its succeeding events, a radical member of the royal 
house of Bourbon, who joined the revolutionists under the title of 
Egalite, took part in many of their movements and voted with 
the revolutionary tribunal for the death of Louis XVI. Yet the 
fact of his connection with the hated royal family could not be 
overlooked and in the end he shared the fate of his royal kins- 
man, having his own head cut off by the guillotine. 

He left a son, who as a young man served in the army of the 
Revolution and had been one of its leaders in the important victory 
of Jemmapes. But when the Terror came he hastened from France, 



182 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

which had become a very unsafe place for one of his blood. He 
had the reputation of being liberal in his views, and was the first 
man thought of for the vacant crown. When the Chamber of 
Deputies met in August and offered it to him, he did not hesitate 
to accept. He swore to observe and reign under the constitution, 
and took the throne under the title of Louis Philippe, king of the 
French. Thus speedily and happily ended the second Revolution 
in France. 

But Paris again proved itself the political center of Europe. 
The deposition of Charles X was like a stone thrown into the seeth- 
ing waters of European politics, and its effects spread far and wide 
beyond the borders of France. The nations had been bound 
hand and foot by the Congress of Vienna. The people had writhed 
uneasily in their fetters, but now in more than one locality they 
rose in their might to break them, here demanding a greater degree 
of liberty, there overthrowing the government. 

HOLLAND AND BELGIUM DIVIDE 

The latter was the case in Belgium. Its people, as already 
stated, had suffered severely from the work of the Congress of 
Vienna. Without even a pretence of consulting their wishes, their 
country had been incorporated with Holland as the kingdom of 
the Netherlands, the two countries being fused into one under a 
king of the old Dutch House of Orange. The idea was good enough 
in itself. It was intended to make a kingdom strong enough to 
help keep France in order. But an attempt to fuse these two states 
was like an endeavor to mix oil and water. The people of the 
two countries had long before drifted apart from each other, and 
had irreconcilable ideas and interests. Holland was a colonizing 
and commercial country, Belgium an industrial country; Holland 
was Protestant, Belgium was Catholic; Holland was Teutonic in 
blood, Belgium was a mixture of the Teutonic and French, but 
wholly French in feeling and customs. 

The Belgians, therefore, were generally discontented with the 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 183 

act of fusion, and in 1830 they imitated the French by a revolt 
against King William of Holland. A tumult followed in Brussels, 
which ended in the Dutch soldiers being driven from the city. 
King William, finding that the Belgians insisted on independence, 
decided to bring them back to their allegiance by force of arms. 
The Powers of Europe now took the matter in hand, and, after 
some difference of opinion, decided to grant the Belgians the 
independence they demanded. This was a meddling with his 
royal authority to which King William did not propose to submit, 
but when the navy of Great Britain and the army of France 
approached his borders he changed his mind, and since 1833 Hol- 
land and Belgium have gone their own way under separate kings. 
A limited monarchy, with a suitable constitution, was organized 
for Belgium by the Powers, and Prince Leopold, of the German 
house of Saxe-Coburg, was placed upon the throne. 

POPULAR MOVEMENTS IN GERMANY AND ITALY 

The spirit of revolution also extended into Germany and 
Italy, but there with smaller results. Neither in Austria nor 
Prussia did the people stir, but in many of the smaller German 
states a demand was made for a constitution on liberal lines, and 
in every instance the princes had to give way. Each of these 
states gained a representative form of government, the monarchs 
of Prussia and Austria alone retaining their old despotic power. 
It was a step towards popular government, but only a step. 

In Italy there were many signs of revolutionary feeling; but 
Austria still dominated that peninsula, and Metternich kept a 
close watch upon the movements of its people. There was much 
agitation. The great secret society of the Carbonari sought to 
combine the patriots of all Italy in a grand stroke for liberty and 
union, but nothing came from their efforts. In the States of the 
Church alone the people rose in revolt against their rulers, but 
they were soon put down by the Austrians, who invaded their 
territory, dispersed their weak bands, and restored the old tyranny. 



184 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

The hatred of the Italians for the Austrians grew more intense, 
but their time had not yet come; they sank back in submission 
and awaited a leader and an opportunity. 

There was, however, one country in which the revolution in 
France called forth a more active response, though, unhappily, 
only to double the weight of the chains under which its people 
groaned. This was unfortunate Poland; once a great and proud 
kingdom, now dismembered and swallowed up by the land-greed 
of its powerful neighbors. It had been in part restored by Napo- 
leon, in his kingdom of Warsaw, and his work had been in a meas- 
ure recognized by the Congress of Vienna. The Czar Alexander, 
kindly in disposition and moved by pity for the unhappy Poles, 
had re-established their old kingdom, persuading Austria and 
Prussia to give up the bulk of their Polish territory in return for 
equal areas elsewhere. He gave Poland a constitution, its own 
army, and its own administration, making himself its king, but 
promising to rule as a constitutional monarch. 

POLAND IN ARMS 

This did not satisfy the Poles. It was not the independence 
they craved. They could not forget that they had been a great 
power in Europe when Russia was still the weak and frozen duchy 
of Muscovy. When the warm-hearted Alexander died and the 
cold-hearted Nicholas took his place, their discontent grew to 
dangerous proportions. The news of the outbreak in France was 
like a firebrand thrown in their midst. In November, 1830, a few 
young hot-heads sounded the note of revolt, and Warsaw rose in 
insurrection against the Russians. 

For a time they were successful. Constantine, the Czar's 
brother, governor of Poland, was frightened by the riot, and deserted 
the capital, leaving the revolutionists in full control. Towards 
the frontier he hastened, winged by alarm, while the provinces 
rose in rebellion behind him as he passed. Less than a week had 
elapsed before the Russian power ceased to exist in Poland, 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 185 

and its people were once more lords of their own land. They 
set up a provisional government in Warsaw, and prepared to defend 
themselves against the armies that were sure to come. 

What was needed now was unity. A single fixed and reso- 
lute purpose, under able and suitable leaders, formed the only 
conceivable condition of success. But Poland was, of all coun- 
tries, the least capable of such unity. The landed nobility was 
full of its old feudal notions; the democracy of the city was inspired 
by modern sentiments. They could not agree; they quarreled in 
castle and court, while their hasty levies of troops were marching 
to meet the Russians in the field. Under such conditions success 
was a thing beyond hope. 

Yet the Poles fought well. Kosciusko, their former hero, 
would have been proud of their courage and willingness to die 
for their country. But against the powerful and ably led Russian 
armies their gallantry was of no avail, and their lack of unity fatal. 
In May, 1831, they were overwhelmed at Ostrolenka by the Rus- 
sian hosts. In September a traitor betrayed Warsaw, and the 
Russian army entered its gates. The revolt was at an end. 

Nicholas the Czar decided that these people had been spoiled 
by kindness and clemency. They should not be spoiled in that 
way any longer. Under his harsh decrees the Kingdom of Poland 
vanished. He ordered that it should be made a Russian province, 
and held by a Russian army of occupation. The very language 
of the Poles was forbidden to be spoken, and their religion was 
to be replaced by the Orthodox Russian faith. Those br°f months 
of revolution and independence were fatal to the liberty-loving 
people. Since then, except during their brief revolt in 1863, they 
have lain in fetters at the feet of Russia, nothing remaining to 
them but their patriotic memories and their undying aspiration 
for freedom and independence. Not until 1914 was any hope 
of regaining their nationality held out to them, when a later 
Nicholas offered them an autonomous government as a reward 
if they would give him their loyal aid in the war then prevailing. 



186 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

PROSPERITY IN GREAT BRITAIN 

The effects of the revolution in Paris did not confine them- 
selves to the continent of Europe. They crossed the British 
Channel and made themselves felt in the island kingdom beyond. 
Before speaking of what took place here a few words on the politi- 
cal and industrial conditions then existing in that country will be 
of interest. 

Great Britain, small as it was, had grown, by the opening of 
the nineteenth century, to be the leading power in Europe. Its 
industries, its commerce, its enterprise had expanded enormously. 
It had become the great workshop and the chief distributor of the 
world. The raw material of the nations flowed through its ports, 
the finished products of mankind poured from its looms. London 
became the great money center of the world, and the industrious 
and enterprising islanders grew enormously rich, while no equal 
steps of progress and enterprise showed themselves in any of the 
nations of the continent. 

It was the one power in Europe that persistently defied Napo- 
leon and escaped the fury of his assaults. It has been shown in 
former chapters what part it took in the Napoleonic wars, how the 
final fall of the mighty conqueror was due to a British army, and 
how his career ended in an island prison under British rule. 

It cannot be said that the industrial prosperity of Great 
Britain, while of advantage to her people as a whole, was nec- 
essarily so to individuals. While one portion of the nation 
amassed enormous wealth, the bulk of the people sank into the 
deepest poverty. The factory system brought with it oppression 
and misery which it would need a century of industrial revolt to 
overcome. The costly wars, the crushing taxation, the oppressive 
corn-laws, which forbade the importation of foreign corn, the 
extravagant expenses of the court and salaries of officials, all con- 
spired to depress the people. Manufactures fell into the hands of 
the few, and a vast number of artisans were forced to live from 
hand to mouth, and to labor for long hours on pinching wages. 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 187 

Estates were similarly accumulated in the hands of the few, and 
the small land-owner and trader tended to disappear. Everything 
was taxed to the utmost it would bear, while government remained 
blind to the needs and sufferings of the people and made no effort 
to decrease the prevailing misery. 

Thus it came about that the era of Great Britain's greatest 
prosperity and supremacy as a world-power was the one of greatest 
industrial oppression and misery at home, a period marked by 
rebellious uprisings among the people, to be repressed with cruel 
and bloody severity. It was a period of industrial transition, in 
which the government flourished and the people suffered, and in 
which the seeds of revolt and revolution were widely spread on 
every hand. 

AN INTOLERABLE SITUATION 

The situation, in fact, had grown intolerable. Parliament 
continued blind to the condition of the working people. Certainly 
it showed no indication of alertness to the fact that the political 
condition had grown desperate. Yet the feeling was widespread 
that something must be done. If affairs were allowed to go on as 
they were the people might rise in a revolt that would widen into 
revolution. A general outbreak seemed at hand. To use the 
language of the times, the "Red Cock" was crowing in the rural 
districts. That is, incendiary fires were being kindled in a hun- 
dred places. In the centers of manufacture similar signs of dis- 
content appeared. Tumultuous meetings were held, riots broke 
out, bloody collisions with the troops took place. Daily and 
hourly the situation was growing more critical. The people were 
in that state of exasperation that is the preliminary stage of 
insurrection. The two things especially demanded were, reform in 
Parliamentary representation and repeal of the Corn-Laws. Just 
what is meant by the former must be told at some length, as it 
referred to a condition of affairs which had long been outgrown. 
Representation of the people, in truth, once a fact, had long since 



188 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

become a fiction, one so far removed from the needs of the times as 
to have become a subject for ridicule. 

REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT 

The British Parliament, it is scarcely necessary to say, is com- 
posed of two bodies, the House of Lords and the House of Com- 
mons. The former represents the aristocratic element of the 
nation. In effect, it represents simply its members, since they hold 
their seats as a privilege of their titles, and have only their own 
interests to consider, though the interests of their class go with 
their own. The latter body is supposed to represent the people, but 
up to the time with which we are concerned it had never fully 
done so, and did so now much less than ever, since the right to 
vote for its members was reserved to a few thousands of the rich. 

In the year 1830, indeed, the House of Commons had almost 
ceased to represent the people at all. Its seats were distributed in 
accordance with a system that had scarcely changed in the least 
for two hundred years. The idea of distributing the members in 
accordance with the population was scarcely thought of, and a 
state of affairs had arisen which was as absurd as it was unjust. 
For during these two hundred years great changes had taken place 
in England. What were originally mere villages or open plains 
had become flourishing commercial or manufacturing cities. Man- 
chester, Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, and other centers of industry 
had become seats of great and busy populations. On the other 
hand, once flourishing towns had decayed, ancient boroughs had 
become practically extinct. Thus there had been great changes 
in the distribution of population, but the distribution of seats in 
Parliament remained the same. 

As a result of this state of affairs the great industrial towns, 
Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, and others, with their 
hundreds of thousands of people, did not send a single member to 
Parliament, while places with only a handful of voters were duly 
represented, and even places with no voters at all sent members 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 189 

to Parliament. Land-holding lords nominated and elected those, 
generally selecting the younger sons of noble families, and thus a 
large number of the "representatives of the people" really repre- 
sented no one but the gentry to whom they owed their places. 
"Rotten" boroughs these were justly called, but they were 
retained by the stolid conservatism with which the genuine Briton 
clings to things and conditions of the past. 



The peculiar state of affairs was picturesquely pointed out by 
Lord John Russell in a speech in 1831. "A stranger," he said, 
"who was told that this country is unparalleled in wealth and 
industry, and more civilized and enlightened than any country was 
before it — that it is a country which prides itself upon its freedom, 
and which once in seven years elects representatives from its 
population to act as the guardians and preservers of that freedom 
— would be anxious and curious to see how that representation is 
formed, and how the people choose their representatives. 

"Such a person would be very much astonished if he were 
taken to a ruined mound and told that that mound sent two repre- 
sentatives to Parliament; if he were taken to a stone wall and told 
that these niches in it sent two representatives to Parliament; 
if he were taken to a park where no houses were to be seen and 
told that that park sent two representatives to Parliament. But 
he would be still more astonished if he were to see large and 
opulent towns, full of enterprise and industry and intelligence, con- 
taining vast magazines of every species of manufacture, and were 
then told that these towns sent no representatives to Parliament. 

"Such a person would be still more astonished if he were 
taken to Liverpool, where there is a large constituency, and told, 
'Here you will have a fine specimen of a popular election.' He 
would see bribery employed to the greatest extent and in the most 
unblushing manner; he would see every voter receiving a number 
of guineas in a bag as the price of his corruption; and after such a 



190 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

spectacle he would be, no doubt, much astonished that a nation 
whose representatives are thus chosen, could perform the functions 
of legislation at all, or enjoy respect in any degree." 

EFFECT OF THE 1830 REVOLUTION 

Such was the state of affairs when there came to England the 
news of the quiet but effective French Revolution of 1830. Its 
effect was a stern demand for the reform of this mockery miscalled 
House of Commons, of this he that claimed to respresent the 
English people. We have not told the whole story of the trans- 
parent falsehood. Two years before no man could be a member of 
Parliament who did not belong to the Church of England. No 
Dissenter could hold any public office in the kingdom. The multi- 
tudes of Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, and other dissenting 
sects were excluded from any share in the government. The same 
was the case with the Catholics, few in England, but forming the 
bulk of the population of Ireland. 

This evil, so far as all but the Catholics were concerned, was 
removed by Act of Parliament in 1828. The struggle for Catholic 
liberation was conducted in Ireland by Daniel O'Connell, the most 
eloquent and patriotic of its orators. He was sneered at by Lord 
Wellington, then prime minister of Great Britain. But when it 
was seen that all Ireland was backing her orator the Iron Duke 
gave way, and a Catholic Relief Bill was passed in 1829, giving 
Catholics the right to hold all but the highest offices of the realm. 
In 1830, instigated by the revolution in France, the great fight for 
the reform of Parliamentary representation began. 

The question was not a new one. It had been raised by 
Cromwell, nearly two hundred years before. It had been brought 
forward a number of times during the eighteenth century. It was 
revived in 1809 and again in 1821, but public opinion did not come 
strongly to its support until 1830. George IV, its strong oppo- 
nent, died in that year; William IV, a king more in its favor, came 
to the throne; the government of the bitterly conservative Duke 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 191 

of Wellington was defeated and Earl Grey, a Liberal minister, took 
his place; the time was evidently ripe for reform, and soon the 
great fight was on. 

The people of England looked upon the reform of Parliament 
as a method of restoring to them their lost liberties, and their 
feelings were deeply enlisted in the event. When, on the 1st of 
March, 1831, the bill was brought into the House of Commons, 
the public interest was intense. For hours eager crowds waited in 
the streets, and when the doors of the Parliament house were 
opened every inch of room in the galleries was quickly filled, while 
for hundreds of others no room was to be had. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR REFORM 

The debate opened with the speech by Lord John Russell 
from which we have quoted. In the bill offered by him he pro- 
posed to disfranchise entirely sixty-two of the rotten boroughs, 
each of which had less than 2,000 inhabitants; to reduce forty- 
seven others, with less than 4,000 inhabitants, to one member each; 
and to distribute the 168 members thus unseated among the 
populous towns, districts, and counties which either had no mem- 
bers at all, or a number out of all proportion to their population. 
Also the suffrage was to be extended, the hours for voting short- 
ened, and other reforms adopted. 

The bill was debated, pro and con, with all the eloquence then 
in Parliament. Vigorously as it was presented, the opposing 
elements were too strong, and its consideration ended in defeat by 
a majority of eight. Parliament was immediately dissolved by 
the premier, and an appeal was made to the people. The result 
showed the strength of the public sentiment, limited as the suffrage 
then was. The new Parliament contained a large majority of 
reformers, and when the bill was again presented it was carried 
by a majority of one hundred and six. On the evening of its 
passage it was taken by Earl Grey into the House of Lords, where 
it was eloquently presented by the prime minister and bitterly 



192 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

attacked by Lord Brougham, who declared that it would utterly 
overwhelm the aristocratic part of the House. His view was that 
of his fellows, and the Reform Bill was thrown out by a majority 
of forty-one. 

Instantly, on the news of this action of the Lords, the whole 
country blazed into a state of excitement and disorder only sur- 
passed by that of civil war. The people were bitterly in earnest in 
their demand for reform, their feelings being wrought up to an 
intense pitch of excitement. Riots broke out in all sections of the 
country. London seethed with excitement. The peers were 
mobbed in the streets and hustled and assaulted wherever seen. 
They made their way to the House only through a throng howling 
for reform. Those known to have voted against the bill were in 
peril of their lives, some being forced to fly over housetops to 
escape the fury of the people. Angry debates arose in the House 
of Lords in which even the Bishops took an excited part. The 
Commons was like a bear-pit, a mass of furiously wrangling oppo- 
nents. England was shaken to the center by the defeat of the bill, 
and Parliament reflected the sentiment of the people. 

On December 12th Russell presented a third Reform Bill to 
the House, almost the same in its provisions as those which had 
been defeated. The debate now was brief, and the result certain. 
It was felt to be no longer safe to juggle with the people. On the 
18th the bill was passed, with a greatly increased majority, now 
amounting to one hundred and sixty-two. To the Lords again it 
went, where the Tories, led by Lord Wellington, were in a decided 
majority against it. It had no chance of passage, unless the king 
would create enough new peers to outvote the opposition. This 
King William refused to do, and Earl Grey resigned the ministry, 
leaving the Tories to bear the brunt of the situation. 

HOW SUFFRAGE WAS GATNED 

The result was one barely short of civil war. The people rose 
in fury, determined upon reform or revolution. Organized unions 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 193 

sprang up in every town. Threats of marching an army upon 
London were made. Lord Wellington was mobbed in the streets 
and was in peril of his life. The maddened populace went so far 
as to curse and stone the king himself, one stone striking him in 
the forehead. The country was indeed on the verge of insurrection 
against the government, and unless quick action would be taken 
it was impossible to foresee the result. 

William IV, perhaps with the recent experience of Charles X 
of France before his eyes, gave way, and promised to create enough 
new peers to insure the passing of the bill. To escape this unwel- 
come necessity Wellington and others of the Tories agreed to stay 
away from Parliament, and the Lords, pocketing their dignity as 
best they could, passed the bill by a safe majority, and the reform 
demanded was attained. Similar bills were passed for Scotland 
and Ireland, and thus was achieved the greatest measure of reform 
in the history of the British Parliament. It was essentially a 
revolution, the first great step in the evolution of a truly repre- 
sentative assembly in Great Britain, and its beneficial effect has 
been seen in the legislation since that time. 

We may fitly deal here with some later steps taken in the same 
direction. In 1867 the subject of the extension of the suffrage 
became the great issue. The demand for it was strenuous, and the 
Tories, under Disraeli, their leader, were obliged to bring in a bill 
for this purpose, one which gave the privilege of voting to millions 
previously disfranchised, making it almost universal among the 
commercial and industrial classes. Nearly twenty years later, in 
1884, another extension of the suffrage was made, this applying 
to the agricultural laborers. This ended the great struggle so far 
as the male element of the population was concerned. Many 
years were to pass before a great crusade would arise with the pur- 
pose of giving the Parliamentary franchise to women as well as to 
men. This is very actively in progress, with no clear indication as 
to how it will result. It is pursuing a military method which is as 
yet not promising of favorable results. 

13 



194 THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

THE CORN-LAWS REPEALED 

We must deal more briefly with the second great reform 
demanded by the people, that for the repeal of the Corn-Laws. 

For centuries commerce in grain had been a subject of legisla- 
tion. In 1361 its exportation from England was forbidden, and 
in 1463 its importation was prohibited unless the price of wheat 
was greater than 6s. 3d. per quarter. As time went on changes 
were made in these laws, but the tariff charges kept up the price 
of gram until late in the nineteenth century, and added greatly to 
the miseries of the working classes. 

The farming land of England was not held by the common 
people, but by the aristocracy, who fought bitterly against the 
repeal of the then existing Corn-Laws, which, by laying a large 
duty on grain, added materially to their profits. But while the 
aristocrats were benefited, the workers suffered, the price of the 
loaf .being decidedly raised and their scanty fare correspondingly 
diminished. 

More than once the people rose in riot against these laws, 
the apostle of the crusade against them being Richard Cobden, one 
of Britain's greatest orators. He advocated their repeal with a 
power and influence that in time grew irresistible. He was not 
affiliated with either of the great parties, but stood apart as an 
independent Radical, a man with a party of his own, and that 
party Free Trade. For the crusade against the Corn-Laws 
widened into one against the whole principle of protection. 
Backed by the public demand for cheap food, the movement went 
on, until in 1846 Cobden brought over to his side the government 
forces under Sir Robert Peel, by whose aid the Corn-Laws were 
swept away and the ports of England thrown open to the free 
entrance of food from any part of the world. 

With the repeal of the duties on grain the whole system of 
protection was dropped and in its place was adopted that system 
of free trade in which Great Britain stands alone among the 
nations of the world. 



CHAPTER XII 

Europe in Arms in 1848 

Outbreak of Nineteenth Century Democracy 

Liberty, Equality and Fraternity — Reform Outbreak in Paris — A Republic Founded — 
Revolt in Germany and Austria — The Mettecnich Policy Fails — The Struggle in 
Vienna and Berlin — A Federal Empire in Germany — Italy Strikes for Freedom — 
A French Army Occupies Rome — The Hungarian Revolution — Kossuth and- the 
Magyars — How the Conflict Ended. 

THE revolution of 1830 did not bring peace and quiet to 
France nor to Europe. In France the people grew dis- 
satisfied with their new monarch; in Europe generally 
they demanded a greater share of liberty. Louis Philippe delayed 
to extend the suffrage ; he used his high position to add to his great 
riches; he failed to win the hearts of the French, and was widely 
accused of selfishness and greed. There were risings of legitimists 
in favor of the Bourbons, while the republican element was opposed 
to monarchy. No less than eight attempts were made to remove 
the king by assassination — all of them failures, but they showed 
the disturbed state of public feeling. Liberty, equality, fraternity 
became the watchwords of the working classes, socialistic ideas 
arose and spread, and the industrial element of the various nations 
became allied in one great body of revolutionists known as the 
" Internationalists." 

LIBERTY, EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY 

In Germany the demand of the people for political rights grew 
until it reached a crisis. The radical writings of the "Young 
Germans," the stirring songs of their poets, the bold utterances 
of the press, the doctrines of the " Friends of Light" among the 
Protestants and of the "German Catholics" among the Catholics, 

(194) 



196 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

all went to show that the people were deeply dissatisfied alike 
with the State and the Church. They were rapidly arousing from 
their sluggish acceptance of the work of the Congress of Vienna 
of 1815 and the spirit of liberty was in the air. 

The King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, saw danger ahead. 
He became king in 1840 and lost no time in trying to make his 
rule popular by reforms. An edict of toleration was issued, the 
sittings of the courts were opened to the public, and the Estates 
of the provinces were called to meet in Berlin. In the convening 
of a Parliament he had given the people a voice. The Estates 
demanded freedom of the press and of the state with such eloquence 
and energy that the king dared not resist them. The people had 
gained a great step in their progress towards liberty. 

In Italy also the persistent demands of the people met with 
an encouraging response. The Pope, Pius IX, extended the free- 
dom of the press, gave a liberal charter to the City of Rome, and 
began the formation of an Italian confederacy. In Sicily a revo- 
lutionary outbreak took place, and the King of Naples was com- 
pelled to give his people a constitution and a parliament. His 
example was followed in Tuscany and Sardinia. The tyrannical 
Duke of Modena was forced to flee from the vengeance of his people, 
and the throne of Parma became vacant by the death in 1847 of 
Maria Louisa, the widow of Napoleon Bonaparte, a woman little 
loved and less respected. 

The Italians were filled with hope by these events. Freedom 
and the unity of Italy loomed up before their eyes. Only two 
obstacles stood in their way, the Austrians and the Jesuits, and 
both of these were bitterly hated. Gioberti, the enemy of the 
Jesuits, was greeted with cheers, under which might be heard 
harsh cries of " Death to the Germans." 

Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of 1848. The 
measure of liberty granted the people only whetted their appetite 
for more, and over all Western Europe rose an ominous murmur, 
the voice of the people demanding the rights of which they had 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 197 

so long been deprived. In France this demand was growing dan- 
gerously insistent; in Paris, the center of European revolution, 
it threatened an outbreak. Reform banquets were the order of 
the day in France, and one was arranged for in Paris to signalize 
the meeting of the Chambers. 

REFORM OUTBREAK IN PARIS 

Guizot, the historian, who was then minister of foreign affairs, 
had deeply offended the liberal party of France by his reactionary 
policy. The government threw fuel on the fire by forbidding the 
banquet and taking steps to suppress it by military force. The 
people were enraged by this false step and began to gather in 
excited groups. Throngs of them — artisans, students, and tramps — 
were soon marching through the streets, with shouts of "Reform! 
Down with Guizot!" The crowds rapidly increased and grew 
more violent. Those in favor of peace and order were too weak to 
cope with them; the soldiers were loath to do so; soon barricades 
were erected and fighting began. 

For two days this went on. Then the king, alarmed at the 
situation, dismissed Guizot and promised reform, and the people, 
satisfied for the time and proud of their victory, paraded the 
streets with cheers and songs. All now might have gone well but 
for a hasty and violent act on the part of the troops. About ten 
o'clock at night a shouting and torch-bearing throng marched 
through the Boulevards, singing and waving flags. Reaching the 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they halted and called for its illumina- 
tion. The troops on duty there interfered, and, on an insult to 
their colonel and the firing of a shot from the mob, they replied 
with a volley, before which fifty-two of the people fell killed and 
wounded. 

This reckless and sanguinary deed was enough to turn revolt 
into revolution. The corpses were carried on biers through the 
streets by the infuriated people, the accompanying torch-bearers 
shouting: "To arms! they are murdering us!" At midnight the 



198 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

tocsin call rang from the bells of Notre Dame; the barricades, 
which had been partly removed, were restored; and the next morn- 
ing, February 24, 1848, Paris was in arms. In the struggle that 
followed they were quickly victorious, and the capital was in 
their hands. 

A REPUBLIC FOUNDED 

Louis Philippe followed the example of Charles X, abdicated 
his throne and fled to England. After the fate of Louis XVI no 
monarch was willing to wait and face a Paris mob. The kingdom 
was overthrown, and a republic, the second which France had 
known, was established, the aged Dupont de l'Eure being chosen 
president. The poet Lamartine, the socialist Louis Blanc, the 
statesmen Ledru-Rollin and Arago became members of the Cabi- 
net, and all looked forward to a reign of peace and prosperity. 
The socialists tried the experiment of establishing national work- 
shops in which artisans were to be employed at the expense of the 
state, with the idea that this would give work to all. 

Yet the expected prosperity did not come. The state was 
soon deeply in debt, many of the people remained unemployed, 
and the condition of industry grew worse day by day. The 
treasury proved incapable of paying the state artisans, and the 
public workshops were closed. In June the trouble came to a 
crisis and a new and sanguinary outbreak began, instigated by the 
hungry and disappointed workmen, and led by the advocates of 
the "Red Republic," who acted with ferocious brutality. Gen- 
eral Brea and the Archbishop of Paris were murdered, and the 
work of slaughter grew so horrible that the National Assembly, 
to put an end to it, made General Cavaignac dictator and com- 
missioned him to put down the revolt. 

A terrible struggle ensued between the mob and the troops, 
ending in the suppression of the revolt and the arrest and banish- 
ment of many of its ringleaders. Ten or twelve thousand people 
had been killed. The National Assembly adopted a republican 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 199 

constitution, under which a single legislative chamber and a 
president to be elected every four years were provided for. The 
Assembly wished to make General Cavaignac president, but the 
nation, blinded by their faith in the name of the great conqueror, 
elected by an almost unanimous vote his nephew, Louis Napoleon, 
a man who had suffered a long term of imprisonment for his several 
attempts against the reign of the late long. He had hurried to 
France on learning of the outbreak, offered himself as a candidate 
for the Presidency, and the magic of his name served to carry him 
triumphantly into the office. The revolution, for the time being, 
was at an end, and France was a republic again. 

REVOLT IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 

The effect of this revolution in France spread far and wide 
through Europe, where, as stated, the seeds of revolt had been 
widely sown. Outbreaks occurred in Italy, Poland, Switzerland 
and Ireland, and in Germany the revolutionary fever burned hot. 
Baden was the first state to yield to the demands of the people for 
freedom of the press, a parliament and other reforms, and went so 
far as to abolish the imposts still remaining from feudal times. 
The other minor states followed its example. In Saxony, Wurtem- 
berg and other states class abuses were abolished, liberals given 
prominent positions under government, the suffrage and the legis- 
lature reformed, and men of liberal sentiment summoned to discuss 
the formation of new constitutions. 

But it was in the great despotic states of Germany—Prussia 
and Austria — that the liberals gained the most complete and 
important victory, and went farthest in overthrowing autocratic 
rule and establishing constitutional government. The notable 
Austrian statesman who had been a leader in the Congress of 
Vienna and who had suppressed liberalism in Italy, Prince Met- 
ternich, was still, after more than thirty years, at the head of 
affairs in Vienna. He controlled the policy of Austria; his word 
was law in much of Germany; time had cemented his authority, 



200 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

and he had done more than any other man in Europe in main- 
taining despotism and building a dam against the rising flood of 
liberal sentiment. 

THE METTERNICH POLICY FAILS 

But the hour of the man who had destroyed the work of 
Napoleon was at hand. He failed to recognize the spirit of the age 
or to perceive that liberalism was deeply penetrating Austria. To 
most of the younger statesmen of Europe the weakness of his 
policy and the rottenness of his system were growing apparent, and 
it was evident that they must soon fall before the onslaught of the 
advocates of freedom. 

An incitement was needed, and it came in the news of the 
Paris revolution. At once a hot excitement broke out everywhere 
in Austria. From Hungary came a vigorous demand for an inde- 
pendent parliament, reform of the constitution, decrease of taxes, 
and relief from the burden of the national debt of Austria. From 
Bohemia, whose rights and privileges had been seriously interfered 
with in the preceding year, came similar demands. In Vienna 
itself the popular outcry for increased privileges grew insistent. 

The excitement of the people was aggravated by their distrust 
of the paper money of the realm and by a great depression in 
commerce and industry. Daily more workmen were thrown out 
of employment, and soon throngs of the hungry and discontented 
gathered in the streets. Students, as usual, led away by their 
boyish love of excitement, were the first to create a disturbance, 
but others soon joined in, and the affair quickly became serious. 

The old system was evidently at an end. The policy of Met- 
ternich could restrain the people no longer. Lawlessness became 
general, excesses were committed by the mob, the dwellings of 
those whom the populace hated were attacked and plundered, the 
authorities were resisted with arms, and the danger of an over- 
throw of the government grew imminent. The press, which had 
gained freedom of utterance, added to the peril of the situation by 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 201 

its inflammatory appeals to the people, and by its violence checked 
the progress of the reforms which it demanded. Metternich, by 
his system of restraint, had kept the people in ignorance of the 
first principles of political affairs, and the liberties which they now 
asked for showed them to be unadapted to a liberal government. 
The old minister, whose system was falling in ruins about him, 
fled from the country and sought a refuge in England, that haven 
of political failures. 

THE STRUGGLE IN VIENNA , AND BERLIN 

In May, 1848, the emperor, alarmed at the threatening state 
of affairs, left his capital and withdrew to Innsbruck. The tidings 
of his withdrawal stirred the people to passion, and the outbreak 
of mob violence which followed was the fiercest and most dan- 
gerous that had yet occurred. Gradually, however, the tumult 
was appeased, a constitutional assembly was called into being and 
opened by the Archduke John, and the Emperor Ferdinand 
re-entered Vienna amid the warm acclamations of the people. 
The outbreak was at an end. Austria had been converted from 
an absolute to a constitutional monarchy. 

In Berlin the spirit of revolution became as marked as in 
Vienna. The king resisted the demands of the people, who soon 
came into conflict with the soldiers, a fierce street fight breaking 
out and continuing with violence for two weeks. The revolu- 
tionists demanded the removal of the troops and the formation 
of a citizen militia, and the king, alarmed at the dangerous crisis 
in affairs, at last assented. The troops were accordingly with- 
drawn, the obnoxious ministry was dismissed, and a citizen-guard 
was created for the defense of the city. Three days afterwards 
the king promised to govern as a constitutional monarch, an 
assembly was elected by universal suffrage, and to it was given the 
work of preparing a constitution for the Prussian state. Here, as 
in Austria, the revolutionists had won the day and irresponsible 
government was at an end. 



202 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

A FEDERAL EMPIRE IN GERMANY 

Elsewhere in Germany radical changes were taking place. 
King Louis of Bavaria, who had deeply offended his people, 
resigned in favor of his son. The Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt did 
the same. Everywhere the liberals were in the ascendant, and 
were gaining freedom of the press and constitutional government. 
The formation of Germany into a federal empire was proposed and 
adopted, and a National Assembly met at Frankfort on May 
18, 1848. It included many of the ablest men of Germany. Its 
principal work was to organize a union under an irresponsible 
executive, who was to be surrounded by a responsible ministry. 
The Archduke John of Austria was selected to fill this new but 
brief imperial position, and made a solemn entry into Frankfort 
on the 11th of July. 

All this was not enough for the ultra-radicals. They deter- 
mined to found a German republic, and their leaders, Hecker and 
Struve, called the people to arms. An outbreak took place in 
Baden, but it was quickly suppressed, and the republican move- 
ment came to a speedy end. In the north war broke out between 
Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, united duchies with a large Ger- 
man population, which desired to be freed from Danish rule and 
annexed to Germany, and in consequence called for German aid. 
But just then the new German Union was in no condition to come 
to their assistance, and Prussia preferred diplomacy to war, with 
the result that Denmark came out victorious from the contest. 
As will be seen in a later chapter, Prussia, under the energetic 
leadership of Bismarck, came, a number of years afterwards, to 
the aid of these discontented duchies, and they were finally torn 
from Danish control. 

ITALY STRIKES FOR FREEDOM 

While these exciting events were taking place in the north, 
Italy was swept with a storm of revolution from end to end. Met- 
ternich was no longer at hand to keep it in check, and the whole 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 203 

peninsula seethed with revolt. Sicily rejected the rule of the 
Bourbon king of Naples, chose the Duke of Genoa, son of Charles 
Albert of Sardinia, for its king, and during a year fought for 
liberty. This patriotic effort of the Sicilians ended in failure. 
The Swiss mercenaries of the Neapolitan king captured Syracuse 
and brought the island into subjection, and the tyrant hastened to 
abolish the constitution which he had been frightened into granting 
in his hour of extremity. 

In the north of Italy war broke out between Austria and 
Sardinia. Milan and Venice rose against the Austrians and drove 
out their garrisons, throughout Lombardy the people raised the 
standard of independence, and Charles Albert of Sardinia called 
his people to arms and invaded that country, striving to free it 
and the neighboring state of Venice from Austrian rule. For a 
brief season he was successful, pushing the Austrian troops to the 
frontiers, but the old Marshal Radetzky defeated him at Verona 
and compelled him to seek safety in flight. The next year he 
renewed his attempt, but with no better success. Depressed by 
his failure, he resigned the crown to his son Victor Emmanuel, who 
made a disadvantageous peace with Austria. Venice held out for 
several months, but was finally subdued, and Austrian rule was 
restored in the north. 

Meanwhile the pope, Pius IX, offended his people by his 
unwillingness to aid Sardinia against Austria. He promised to 
grant a constitutional government and convened an Assembly in 
Rome, but the democratic people of the state were not content 
with feeble concessions of this kind. Rossi, prime minister of the 
state, was assassinated, and the pope, filled with alarm, fled in 
disguise, leaving the Papal dominion to the revolutionists, who at 
once proclaimed a republic and confiscated the property of the 
Church. 

Mazzini, the leader of "Young Italy," the ardent revolu- 
tionist who had long worked in exile for Italian independence, 
entered the Eternal City, and with him Garibaldi, long a political 



204 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

refugee in America and a gallant partisan leader in the recent war 
with Austria. The arrival of these celebrated revolutionists filled 
the democratic party in Rome with the greatest enthusiasm, and 
it was resolved to defend the States of the Church to the last 
extremity, viewing them as the final asylum of Italian liberty. 

A FRENCH ARMY OCCUPIES ROME 

In this extremity the pope called on France for aid. That 
country responded by sending an army, which landed at Civita- 
Vecchia and marched upon and surrounded Rome. The new- 
comers declared that they came as friends, not as foes; it was 
not their purpose to overthrow the republic, but to defend the 
capital from Austria and Naples. The leaders of the insurgents 
in Rome did not trust their professions and promises and refused 
them admittance. A fierce struggle followed. The republicans 
defended themselves stubbornly. For weeks they defied the 
efforts of General Oudinot and his troops. But in the end they 
were forced to yield, a conditional submission was made, and the 
French soldiers occupied the city. Garibaldi, Mazzini, and others 
of the leaders took to flight, and the old conditions were gradually 
resumed under the controlling influence of French bayonets. For 
years afterwards the French held the city as the allies and guard 
of the pope. 

THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION 

The revolutionary spirit, which had given rise to war in Italy, 
yielded a still more resolute and sanguinary conflict in Hungary, 
whose people were divided against themselves. The Magyars, 
the descendants of the old Huns, who demanded governmental 
institutions of their own, separate from those of Austria, though 
under the Austrian monarch, were opposed by the Slavonic part of 
the population, and war began between them. Austrian troops 
were ordered to the aid of Jellachich, the ruler of the Slavs of 
Croatia in South Hungary, but their departure was prevented by 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 205 

the democratic people of Vienna, who rose in violent insurrection, 
induced by their sympathy with the Magyars. 

The whole city was quickly in tumult, an attack was made on 
the arsenals, and the violence became so great that the emperor 
again took to flight. War in Austria followed. A strong army 
was sent to subdue the rebellious city, which was stubbornly 
defended, the students' club being the center of the revolutionary 
movement. Jellachich led his Croatians to the aid of the emperor's 
troops, the city was surrounded and besieged, sallies and assaults 
were of daily occurrence, and for a week and more a bloody conflict 
continued day and night. Vienna was finally taken by storm, the 
troops forcing their way into the streets, where shocking scenes 
of murder and violence took place. On November 21, 1848, 
Jellachich entered the conquered city, martial law was proclaimed, 
the houses were searched, the prisons filled with captives, and the 
leaders of the insurrection put to death. 

KOSSUTH AND THE MAGYARS 

Shortly afterwards the Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the 
throne in favor of his youthful nephew, Francis Joseph, who at 
once dissolved the constitutional assembly and proclaimed a new 
constitution and a new code of laws. Hungary was still in arms, 
and offered a vigorous opposition to the Austrians, who now 
marched to put down the insurrection. They found it no easy 
task. The fiery eloquence of the orator Kossuth roused the Mag- 
yars to a desperate resistance, Polish leaders came to their support, 
foreign volunteers strengthened their ranks, Gorgey, their chief 
leader, showed great military skill, and the Austrians were driven 
out and the fortresses taken. The independence of Hungary was 
now proclaimed, and a government established under Kossuth as 
provisional president. 

The repulse of the Austrians nerved the young emperor to 
more strenuous exertions. The aid of Russia was asked, and the 
insurgent state invaded on three sides, by the Croatians from 



206 EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

the south, the Russians from the north, and the Austrians, under 
the brutal General Haynau, from the west. 

The conflict continued for several months, but quarrels 
between the Hungarian leaders weakened their armies, and in 
August, 1849, Gorgey, who had been declared dictator, surrendered 
to the invaders, Kossuth and the other leaders seeking safety in 
flight. Haynau made himself infamous by his cruel treatment of 
the Hungarian people, particularly by his use of the lash upon 
women. His conduct raised such widespread indignation that 
he was roughly handled by a party of brewers, on his visit to 
London in 1850. 

HOW THE CONFLICT ENDED 

With the fall of Hungary the widespread revolutionary move- 
ment of 1848 came to an end. The German Union had already 
disappeared. There were various other disturbances, besides those 
we have recorded, but finally all the states settled down to peace 
and quiet. Its results had been great in increasing the political 
privileges of the people of Western Europe, and with it the reign of 
despotism in that section of the continent came to an end. 

The greatest hero of the war in Hungary was undoubtedly 
Louis Kossuth, whose name has remained familiar among those 
of the patriots of his century. From Hungary he made his way 
to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for two years at Kutaieh, 
being finally released through the intervention of the governments 
of Great Britain and the United States. He then visited England, 
where he was received with enthusiastic popular demonstrations 
and made several admirable speeches in the English language, of 
which he had excellent command. In the autumn of 1851 he 
came to the United States, where he had a flattering reception and 
spoke on the wrongs of Hungary to enthusiastic audiences in the 
principal cities. 




CHAPTER XIII 

Russia and the Crimean War 

Outcome of Slavic Ambitions in the Near East 

Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe— Oppression of the Christians — England and 

France Declare War — Invasion of the Crimea — The Siege of Sebastopol — Charge of 

the Light Brigade — The Gallant Six Hundred — Tennyson's Famous Poem — Sebastopol 

Taken— The Treaty of Paris. 

MONG the most interesting phases of nineteenth-century 
history is that of the conflict between Russia and Turkey, 
a struggle for dominion that came down from the pre- 
ceding centuries, and still seems only temporarily laid aside for 
final settlement in the years to come. In the eighteenth century 
the Turks proved quite able to hold their own against all the 
power of Russia and all the armies of Catharine the Great, and 
they entered the nineteenth century with their ancient dominion 
largely intact. But they were declining in strength while Russia 
was growing, and long before 1900 the empire of the Sultan would 
have become the prey of the Czar had not the other Powers of 
Europe come to the rescue. The Czar Nicholas designated the 
Sultan as the "sick man" of Europe, and such he and his empire 
had truly become. 

TURKEY THE ''SICK MAN" OF EUROPE 

The ambitious designs of Russia found abundant warrant in 
the cruel treatment of the Christian people of Turkey. A number 
of Christian kingdoms lay under the Sultan's rule, in the south 
inhabited by Greeks, in the north by Slavs; their people treated 
always with harshness and tyranny; their every attempt at revolt 
repressed with savage cruelty. We have seen how the Greeks 
rebelled against their oppressors in 1821, and, with the aid of 

(207) 



208 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

Europe, won their freedom in 1829. Stirred by this struggle, 
Russia declared war against Turkey in 1828, and in the treaty 
of peace signed at Adrianople in 1829 secured not only the inde- 
pendence of Greece, but a large degree of home rule for the north- 
ern principalities of Servia, Moldavia, and Wallachia. Turkey 
was forced in a measure to loosen her grip on Christian Europe. 
But the Russians were not satisfied with this. They had got next 
to nothing for themselves. England and the other Western Powers, 
fearful of seeing Russia in possession of Constantinople, had forced 
her to release the fruits of her victory. It was the first step in that 
jealous watchfulness of England over Constantinople which was 
to have a more decided outcome in later years. The new-born 
idea of maintaining the balance of power in Europe stood in 
Russia's way, the nations of the West viewing in alarm the threat- 
ening growth of the great Muscovite Empire. 

OPPRESSION OF THE CHRISTIANS 

The ambitious Czar Nicholas looked upon Turkey as his 
destined prey, and waited with impatience a sufficient excuse to 
send his armies again to the Balkan Peninsula, whose mountain 
barrier formed the great natural bulwark of Turkey in the north. 
Though the Turkish government at this time avoided direct oppres- 
sion of its Christian subjects, the fanatical Mohammedans were 
difficult to restrain, and the robbery and murder of Christians was 
of common occurrence. A source of hostility at length arose from 
the question of protecting these ill-treated peoples. By favor of old 
treaties the Czar claimed a certain right to protect the Christians 
of the Greek faith. France assumed a similar protectorate over 
the Roman Catholics of Palestine, but the greater number of Greek 
Christians in the Holy Land, and the powerful support of the 
Czar, gave the latter the advantage in the frequent quarrels which 
arose in Jerusalem between the pilgrims from the East and the 
West. 

Nicholas, instigated by his advantage in this quarter, deter- 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 209 

mined to declare himself the protector of all the Christians in the 
Turkish Empire, a claim which the Sultan dared not admit if he 
wished to hold control over his Mohammedan subjects. War was 
in the air, and England and France, resolute to preserve the 
"balance of power," in June, 1853, sent their fleets to the Dar- 
danelles as useful lookers-on. 

ENGLAND AND FRANCE DECLARE WAR 

The Sultan had already rejected the Russian demand, and 
Nicholas lost no time in sending an army, led by Prince Gortscha- 
koff, with orders to cross the Pruth and take possession of the 
Turkish provinces on the Danube. The gauntlet had been thrown 
down. War was inevitable. The English newspapers demanded 
of their government a vigorous policy. The old Turkish party in 
Constantinople was equally urgent in its demand for hostilities. 
At length, on October 4, 1853, the Sultan declared war against 
Russia unless the Danubian principalities were at once evacuated. 
Instead of doing so, Nicholas ordered his generals to invade the 
Balkan territory, and on the other hand France and England 
entered into alliance with the Porte and sent their fleets to the 
Bosporus. Shortly afterwards the Russian Admiral Nakhimof 
surprised a Turkish squadron in the harbor of Sinope, attacked it, 
and — though the Turks fought with the greatest courage — the 
fleet was destroyed and nearly the whole of its crews were slain. 

This turned the tide in England and France, which declared 
war in March, 1854, while Prussia and Austria maintained a wait- 
ing attitude. No event of special importance took place early in 
the war. In April Lord Raglan, with an English army of 20,000 
men, landed in Turkey and the siege of the Russian city of Odessa 
was begun. Meanwhile the Russians, who had crossed the 
Danube, found it advisable to retreat and withdraw across the 
Pruth, on a threat of hostilities from Austria and Prussia unless 
the principalities were evacuated. 

The French had met with heavy losses in an advance from 

14 



210 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

Varna, and the British fleet had made an expedition against St. 
Petersburg, but had been checked before the powerful fortress of 
Kronstadt. Such was the state of affairs in the summer of 1854, 
when the allies determined to carry the war into the enemy's 
territory, attack the maritime city of Sebastopol in the Crimea, 
and seek to destroy the Russian naval power in the Black Sea. 

INVASION OF THE CRIMEA 

Of the allied armies, 15,000 men had already perished. With 
the remaining forces, rather more than 50,000 British and French 
and 6,000 Turks, the fleet set sail in September across the Black 
Sea, and landed near Eupatoria on the west coast of the Crimean 
peninsula, on the 4th of September, 1854. Southward from Eupa- 
toria the sea forms a bay, into which, near the ruins of the old 
town of Inkermann, the little river Tschernaja pours. On its south- 
ern side lay the fortified town of Sebastopol, on its northern side 
strong fortifications were raised for the defense of the anchored 
fleet of the allies. Farther north the western mountain range is inter- 
sected by the river Alma, the heights over which Prince Menshikoff 
governor of the Crimea, garrisoned with an army of 38,000 men. 

Against the latter the allies first directed their attack, and, in 
spite of the strong position of the Russians on the rocky slopes, 
Menshikoff was compelled to retreat, owing his escape from entire 
destruction only to the want of cavalry in the army of the allies. 
This dearly bought and bloody battle on the Alma gave rise to 
hopes of a speedy termination of the campaign; but the allies, 
weakened and wearied by the severe struggle, delayed a further 
attack, and Menshikoff gained, time to strengthen his garrison, and 
to surround Sebastopol with strong fortifications. When the allies 
approached the town they were soon convinced that any attack 
on such formidable defenses would be fruitless, and that they 
must await the arrival of fresh reinforcements and annnunition. 
The English took up their position on the Bay of Balaklava, and 
the French to the west, on the Kamiesch. 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 211 

THE SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL 

There now commenced a siege of a kind seldom occurring *in 
the history of the world. The first attempt to storm the city by a 
united attack of the land army and the fleet showed the resistance 
to be much more formidable than had been expected by the allies. 
A portion of the Russian fleet, now useless, was sunk to obstruct 
entrance to the harbor. Between fifteen and twenty thousand 
sailors, under Admirals Kornilof, Istomin and Nakhimof, all three 
of whom were to perish defending the city, reinforced the garrison. 
The population of the city had been reduced from forty-five thou- 
sand to twelve thousand souls. Colonel Todleben, manager of the 
defense, could thus, with very considerable effective forces and 
material — the fleet alone had furnished eight hundred guns — ably 
create a whole system of earthworks which, while improvised, were 
none the less effective. The siege of Sebastopol was, then, less a 
siege than the struggle of an army defending its positions against 
another reduced to attacking them by the usual besieging processes. 
During the siege there were nearly fifty miles of galleries and 
trenches dug by the allies. 

On the north side, which it had been impossible to invest, the 
Russians received everything they needed and kept in constant 
relations with the army, which held the country and sought on 
several occasions to make the invaders raise the siege. The Anglo- 
French, giving up the idea of attacking from the north, crossed the 
Tchernaia to make an assault on Sebastopol from the south. They 
installed themselves on the Chersonesus plateau, a natural fortress 
from which they could resist diversions coming from without, and 
took possession of Kamiesch and Balaklava bays, through which 
they could secure provisions much more easily than their adver- 
saries, who were reduced to having everything brought by inter- 
minable convoys. 

Marshal Saint-Arnaud died of cholera on September 27th 
and was succeeded by the incompetent Canrobert. His colleague, 
Lord Raglan, an old man of sixty-six and a veteran of the Napo- 



212 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

leonic wars, could not make his dignity compensate for his head- 
strong incapacity. 

The siege was destined to absorb for a year the resources of 
the belligerents. Accordingly the other operations became of minor 
importance. In the Black Sea, on April 22d, the allied fleet had 
bombarded the military port of Odessa, but respected the city and 
the commercial harbor. The Russians themselves destroyed their 
posts on the coast near the Caucasus. In the Baltic, after despair- 
ing of an attack on Kronstadt, a landing was made on the Aland 
islands, where an unfinished fortress was seized (August 16th). 
In 1855 Sveaborg was bombarded. Other not very profitable 
expeditions were sent to the White Sea and Pacific coast. 

CHAKGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE 

In October Menshikoff, reinforced, tried to interrupt the siege 
by attacking Balaklava. Eight days after the beginning of siege 
operations the British were surprised in their strong position near 
Balaklava by General Liprandi, with a considerable Russian force. 
This engagement was rendered notable by the mad but heroic 
"Charge of the Light Brigade," which has become famous in song 
and story. The purpose of this assault on the part of the Russians 
was to cut the line of communication of the allies, by capturing 
the redoubts that guarded them, and thus to enforce a retreat by 
depriving the enemy of supplies. 

The day began with a defeat of the Turks and the capture by 
the Russians of several of the redoubts. Then a great body of 
Russian cavalry, 3,000 strong, charged upon the Ninety-third 
Highlanders, who were drawn up in line to receive them. There 
was comparatively but a handful of these gallant Scotchmen, 
550 all told, but they have made themselves famous in history as 
the invincible "thin, red line." 

Sir Colin Campbell, their noble leader, said to them: " Re- 
member, lads, there is no retreat from here. You must die where 
you stand." 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 213 

"Aye, aye, Sir Colin," shouted the sturdy Highlanders, "we 
will do just that." 

They did not need to. The murderous fire from their "thin, 
red line" was more than the Russians cared to endure, and they 
were driven back in disorder. 

The British cavalry completed the work of the infantry. On 
the serried mass of Russian horsemen charged Scarlett's Heavy 
Brigade, greatly inferior to them in number, but inspired with a 
spirit and courage that carried its bold horsemen through the 
Russian columns with such resistless energy that the great body of 
Muscovite cavalry broke and fled — 3,000 completely routed by 
800 gallant dragoons. 

And now came the unfortunate but world-famous event of 
the day. It was due to a mistaken order. Lord Raglan, thinking 
that the Russians intended to carry off the guns captured in the 
Turkish redoubts, sjent an order to the brigade of light cavalry to 
" advance rapidly to the front and prevent the enemy from carrying 
off the guns." 

Lord Lucan, to whom the command was brought, did not 
understand it. Apparently, Captain Nolan, who conveyed the 
order, did not clearly explain its purport. 

"Lord Raglan orders that the cavalry shall attack imme- 
diately," he said, impatient at Lucan's hesitation. 

"Attack, sir; attack what?" asked Lucan. 

"There, my lord, is your enemy; there are your guns," said 
Nolan, with a wave of his hand towards the hostile lines. 

The guns he appeared to indicate were those of a Russian 
battery at the end of the valley, to attack which by an unsup- 
ported cavalry charge was sheer madness. Lucan rode to Lord 
Cardigan, in command of the cavalry, and repeated the order. 

"But there is a battery in front of us and guns and riflemen 
on either flank," said Cardigan. 

"I know it," answered Lucan. "But Lord Raglan will have 
it. We have no choice but to obey." 



214 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

"The brigade will advance," said Cardigan, without further 
hesitation. 

THE GALLANT SIX HUNDRED 

In a moment more the "gallant six hundred" were in motion 
— going in the wrong direction, as Captain Nolan is thought to 
have perceived. At all events he spurred his horse across the 
front of the brigade, waving his sword as if with the intention to 
set them right. But no one understood him, and at that instant 
a fragment of shell struck him and hurled him dead to the earth. 
There was no further hope of stopping the mad charge. 

On and on went the devoted Light Brigade, their pace increas- 
ing at every stride, headed straight for the Russian battery half a 
league away. As they went fire was opened on them from the 
guns in flank. Soon they came within range of the guns in front, 
which also opened a raking fire. They were enveloped in "a zone 
of fire, and the air was filled with the rush of shot, the bursting of 
shells, and the moan of bullets, while amidst the infernal din the 
work of death went on, and men and horses were incessantly 
dashed to the ground." 

But no thought of retreat seems to have entered the minds of 
those brave dragoons and their gallant leader. Their pace 
increased; they reached the battery and dashed in among the 
guns; the gunners were cut down as they served their pieces. 
Masses of Russian cavalry standing near were charged and forced 
back. The men fought madly in the face of death until the word 
came to retreat. 

Then, emerging from the smoke of the battle, a feeble rem- 
nant of the "gallant six hundred" appeared upon the plain, com- 
prising one or two large groups, though the most of them were in 
scattered parties of two or three. One group of about seventy 
men cut their way through three squadrons of Russian lancers. 
Another party of equal strength broke through a second inter- 
cepting force. Out of some 647 men in all, 247 were killed and 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN AVAR 215 

wounded, and nearly all the horses were slain. Lord Cardigan, 
the first to enter the battery, was one of those who came back 
alive. The whole affair had occupied no more than twenty 
minutes. But it was a twenty minutes of which the British nation 
has ever since been proud, and which Tennyson has made famous 
by one of the most spirit-stirring of his odes. The French General 
Bosquet fairly characterized it by his often quoted remark: "C'est 
magninque, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." (It is magnificent, but 
it is not war.) 

tennyson's famous poem 

Half a league, half a league, 
Half a league onward, 
All in the valley of death 

Rode the six hundred. 
''Forward, the Light Brigade! 
Charge for the guns!" he said. 
Into the valley of death, 

Rode the six hundred. 

"Forward, the Light Brigade!" 
Was there a man dismayed? 
Not though the soldiers knew 

Some one had blundered: 
Theirs not to make reply, 
Theirs not to reason why, 
Theirs but to do and die; 
Into the valley of death, 

Rode the six hundred. 

Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon in front of them, 

Volleyed and thundered: 
Stormed at with shot and shell, 
Boldly they rode and well : 
Into the jaws of death, 
Into the mouth of hell, 

Rode the six hundred. 

Flashed all their sabres bare, 
Flashed as they turned in air, 
Sab'ring the gunners there, 



216 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

Charging an army, while 

All the world wondered: 
Plunged in the battery smoke, 
Right through the line they broke, 
Cossack and Russian 
Reeled from the sabre-stroke, 

Shattered and sundered. 
Then they rode back — but not, 

Not the six hundred. 

Cannon to right of them, 
Cannon to left of them, 
Cannon behind them, 

Volleyed and thundered. 
Stormed at with shot and shell, 
While horse and hero fell, 
They that had fought so well, 
Came through the jaws of death, 
Back from the mouth of hell, 
All that was left of them, 

Left of six hundred. 

When can their glory fade? 
O, the wild charge they made! 

All the world wondered. 
Honor the charge they made! 
Honor the Light Brigade, 

Noble six hundred! 

The battle of Balaklava was decided in favor of the allies, and 
on the 5th of November, when Menshikoff had obtained fresh 
reinforcements, the murderous battle of Inkermann was fought 
under the eyes of the two Grand Princes Nicholas and Michael, 
and after a mighty struggle was won by the allied armies. Fight- 
ing in the ranks were two other princely personages, the Duke of 
Cambridge and Prince Napoleon, son of Jerome, former King 
of Westphalia. 

SEBASTOPOL TAKEN 

These battles in the field brought no changes in the state of 
affairs. The siege of Sebastopol went on through the winter of 
1854-55, during which the allied armies suffered the utmost misery 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 217 

and privation, partly the effect of climate, largely the result of 
fraud and incompetency at home. Sisters of Mercy and self- 
sacrificing English ladies — chief among them the noble Florence 
Nightingale — strove to assuage the sufferings brought on the 
soldiers by cold, hunger, and disease, enemies which proved more 
fatal than the sword. 

In the year 1855 the war was carried on with increased energy. 
Sardinia joined the allies and sent them an army of 15,000 men. 
Austria broke with Russia and began preparations for war. And 
in March the obstinate Czar Nicholas died and his milder son 
Alexander took his place. Peace was demanded in Russia, yet 
25,000 of her sons had fallen and the honor of the nation seemed 
involved. The war went on, both sides increasing their forces. 
Month by month the allies more closely invested the besieged city. 
After the middle of August the assault became almost incessant, 
cannon balls dropping like an unceasing storm of hail in forts 
and streets. 

On the 5th of September began a terrific bombardment, con- 
tinuing day and night for three days, and sweeping down more 
than 5,000 Russians on the ramparts. At length, as the hour of 
noon struck on September 8th, the attack, of which this play of 
artillery was the prelude, began, the French assailing the Mala- 
koff, the British the Redan, these being the most formidable of the 
defensive works of the town. The French assault was successful 
and Sebastopol became untenable. That night the Russians blew 
up their remaining forts, sunk their ships of war, and marched out 
of the town, leaving it as the prize of victory to the allies. 

THE TREATY OF PARIS 

Britain, Turkey and Piedmont would have liked to continue 
the war, as they saw in it prospects of gain. The British were 
already contemplating a decisive expedition against Kronstadt, 
and Sweden had just signed a treaty with the allies (November 
21st). But Napoleon III wanted no more of it. He was driven 



218 RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

to this resolution by domestic reasons, and also by the desire to 
become allied with Russia, in order to satisfy with its aid (as was 
actually to happen) the Italian Utopias of which he already inti- 
mated he had been dreaming. Russia was far from being con- 
quered, but its finances were in a most deplorable condition, and 
peace was necessary to it. Austria, whose weakness after the 
Hungarian crisis, and fear of Prussia, where Bismarck was already 
concocting his plans, had kept neutral, made the way easy for 
negotiations to be opened. 

As regards France and England the negotiations were con- 
fined to vague promises, and to Russia they proposed the acceptance 
of guarantees to which the conclusion of peace was subordinate. 
When the capture of Kars by the Russians (November 27th) had 
brought a degree of satisfaction to their national pride that made 
it more easy for them to yield, Austria decided on submitting to 
them an ultimatum which it knew would be accepted, a course 
advised also by Prussia. 

The terms of peace were agreed upon in the Paris congress 
(February 25 to March 30, 1856). The independence and integrity 
of Turkey were declared to be of European interest, and any con- 
flict which should arise between the Ottoman empire and one of 
the signing Powers was to justify the mediation of the others. The 
Straits treaty was renewed, the free navigation of the Danube 
assured, and an international commission entrusted with seeing to 
the maintenance of the necessary works at its estuaiy. To Moldavia 
was to be added a portion of Russian Bessarabia, so that Russia 
would not touch on the great river. The Russian protectorate 
over the principalities was abolished. The Aland islands in the 
Baltic were neutralized. But the chief clause was that relating to 
the Black Sea, from which the war vessels of all nations were ex- 
cluded. The Sultan once more proclaimed religious liberty, ac- 
knowledged the civil equality of all his subjects, and admitted 
Christians to military service — promises that were not be be kept. 



CHAPTER XIV 

The Ambition of Louis Napoleon 

The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism 

The Coup d'etat of 1851 — From President to Emperor — The Empire is Peace — War 

With Austria — The Battle of Magenta — Possession of Lombardy — French Victor}' at 

Solferino — Treaty of Peace — Invasion of Mexico — End of Napoleon's Career. 

THE name of Napoleon is a name to conjure with in France. 
Two generations after the fall of Napoleon the Great the 
people of that country had practically forgotten the misery 
he had brought them, and remembered only the glory with which 
he had crowned the name of France. When, then, a man who has 
been designated as Napoleon the Little offered himself for their 
suffrages, they cast their votes almost unanimously in his favor. 

Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, to give this personage his 
full name, was a son of Louis Bonaparte, once king of Holland, and 
Hortense de Beauharnais, and had been recognized by Napoleon 
as, after his father, the direct successor to the throne. This he 
made strenuous efforts to obtain, hoping to dethrone Louis 
Philippe and install himself in his place. In 1836, with a few 
followers, he made an attempt to capture Strasbourg. His effort 
failed and he was arrested and transported to the United States. 
In 1839 he published a work entitled " Napoleonic Ideas," which 
was an apology for the ambitious acts of the first Napoleon. 

The growing unpopularity of Louis Philippe tempted Louis 
Napoleon to make a second attempt to invade France. He did it 
in a rash way almost certain to end in failure. Followed by about 
fifty men, and bringing with him a tame eagle, which was expected 
to perch upon his banner as the harbinger of victory, he sailed 
from England in August, 1840, and landed at Boulogne. This 
desperate and foolish enterprise proved a complete failure. The 

(219) 



220 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

soldiers whom the would-be usurper expected to join his standard 
arrested him, and he was tried for treason by the House of Peers. 
This time he was not dealt with so leniently as before, but was 
sentenced to imprisonment for life and was confined in the Castle 
of Ham. From this fortress he escaped in disguise in May, 1846, 
and made his way to England. 

The revolution of 1848 gave the restless and ambitious adven- 
turer a more promising opportunity. He returned to France, was 
elected to the National Assembly, and on the adoption of the 
republican constitution offered himself as a candidate for the 
presidency of the new republic. And now the magic of the name 
of Napoleon told. General Cavaignac, his chief competitor, was 
supported by the solid men of the country, who distrusted the 
adventurer; but the people rose almost solidly in his support, 
and he was elected president for four years by 5,562,834 votes, 
against 1,469,166 for Cavaignac. 

The new President of France soon showed his ambition. He 
became engaged in a contest with the Assembly and aroused the 
distrust of the Republicans by his autocratic remarks. In 1849 he 
still further offended the democratic party by sending an army to 
Rome, which put an end to the republic in that city. He sought 
to make his cabinet officers the pliant instruments of his will, and 
thus caused De Tocqueville, the celebrated author, who was 
minister for foreign affairs, to resign. "We were not the men to 
serve him on those terms," said De Tocqueville, at a later time. 

The new-made president was feeling his way to imperial 
dignity. He could not forget that his illustrious uncle had made 
himself emperor, and his ambition instigated him to the same 
course. A violent controversy arose between him and the 
Assembly, which body had passed a law restricting universal suf- 
frage, thus reducing the popular support of the president. In June, 
1850, it increased his salary at his request, but granted the increase 
only for one year — an act of distrust which proved a new source of 
discord. 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 221 

THE "COUP D'ETAT" OF 1851 

Louis Napoleon meanwhile was preparing for a daring act. 
He secretly obtained the support of the army leaders and pre- 
pared covertly for the boldest stroke of his life. On the 2d of 
December, 1851 — the anniversary of the establishment of the 
first empire and of the battle of Austerlitz — he got rid of his 
opponents by means of the memorable coup d'etat, and seized the 
supreme power of the state. 

The most influential members of the Assembly had been 
arrested during the preceding night, and when the hour for the 
session of the House came the men most strongly opposed to the 
usurper were in prison. Most of them were afterwards exiled, 
some for life, some for shorter terms. This act of outrage and 
violation of the plighted faith of the president roused the socialists 
and republicans to the defense of their threatened liberties, 
insurrections broke out in Paris, Lyons, and other towns, street 
barricades were built, and severe fighting took place. But Napo- 
leon had secured the army, and the revolt was suppressed with 
blood and slaughter. Baudin, one of the deposed deputies, was 
shot on the barricade hi the Faubourg St. Antoine, while waving 
in his hand the decree of the constitution. He was afterwards 
honored as a martyr to the cause of republicanism in France. 

The usurper had previously sought to gain the approval of 
the people by liberal and charitable acts, and to win the good will 
of the civic authorities by numerous progresses through the 
interior. He now posed as a protector and promoter of national 
prosperity and the rights of the people, and sought to lay upon the 
Assembly all the defects of his administration. By these means, 
which aided to awaken the Napoleonic fervor in the state, he was 
enabled safely to submit his acts of violence and bloodshed to the 
approval of the people. The new constitution offered by the 
president was put to vote, and was adopted by the enormous 
majority of more than seven million votes. By its terms Louis 
Napoleon was to be president of France for ten years, with power 



222 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

equal to that of a monarch, and the Parliament was to consist of 
two bodies, a Senate and a Legislative House, which were given 
only nominal power. 

FROM PRESIDENT TO EMPEROR 

This was as far as Napoleon dared to venture at that time. 
A year later, on December 1, 1852, having meanwhile firmly 
cemented his position in the state, he passed from president to 
emperor, again by a vote of the people, of whom, according to the 
official report, 7,824,189 cast their votes in his favor. That this 
report told the truth few or none believed, but it served the 
usurper's purpose. 

Thus ended the second French republic, by an act of usurpa- 
tion of the basest and most unwarranted character. The partisans 
of the new emperor were rewarded with the chief offices of the 
state; the leading republicans languished in prison or in exile for 
the crime of doing their duty to their constituents; and Armand 
Marrast, the most zealous champion of the republic, died of a 
broken heart from the overthrow of all his efforts and aspirations. 
The honest soldier and earnest patriot, Cavaignac, in a few years 
followed him to the grave. The cause of liberty in France 
seemed lost. 

The crowning of a new emperor of the Napoleonic family in 
France naturally filled Europe with apprehensions. But Napo- 
leon III, as he styled himself, was an older man than Napoleon I, 
and seemingly less likely to be carried away by ambition. His 
favorite motto, "The Empire is peace," aided to restore quietude, 
and gradually the nations began to trust in his words: " France 
wishes for peace; and when France is satisfied the world is quiet." 

Warned by one of the errors of his uncle, he avoided seeking a 
wife in the royal families of Europe, but allied himself with a 
Spanish lady of noble rank, the young and beautiful Eugenie de 
Montijo, duchess of Teba. At the same time he proclaimed that, 
"A sovereign raised to the throne by a new principle should remain 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 223 

iaithful to that principle, and in the face of Europe frankly accept 
the position of a parvenu, which is an honorable title when it is 
obtained by the public suffrage of a great people. For seventy 
years all princes' daughters married to rulers of France have been 
unfortunate; only one, Josephine, was remembered with affection 
by the French people, and she was not born of a royal house." 

The new emperor continued his efforts as president to win 
the approval of the people by public works. He recognized the 
necessity of aiding the working classes as far as possible, and pro- 
tecting them from poverty and wretchedness. During a dearth 
in 1853 a "baking fund" was organized in Paris, the city con- 
tributing funds to enable bread to be sold at a low price. Dams 
and embankments were built along the rivers to overcome the 
effects of floods. New streets were opened, bridges built, railways 
constructed, to increase internal traffic. Splendid buildings were 
erected for municipal and government purposes. Paris was given 
a new aspect by pulling down its narrow lanes, and building wide 
streets and magnificent boulevards— the latter, as was charged, for 
the purpose of depriving insurrection of its lurking places. The 
great exhibition of arts and industries in London was followed in 
1854 by one in France, the largest and finest seen up to that time. 
Trade and industry were fostered by a reduction of tariff charges, 
joint stock companies and credit associations were favored, and 
in many ways Napoleon III worked wisely and well for the 
prosperity of France, the growth of its industries, and the improve- 
ment of the condition of its people. 

THE EMPIRE IS PEACE 

But the new emperor, while thus actively engaged in labors 
of peace, by no means lived up to the spirit of his motto, "The 
Empire is peace." An empire founded upon the army needs to 
give employment to that army. A monarchy sustained by the 
votes of a people athirst for glory needs to do something to appease 
that thirst. A throne filled by a Napoleon could not safely ignore 



224 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

the "Napoleonic Ideas," and the first of these might be stated as 
"The Empire is war." And the new emperor was by no means 
satisfied to pose simply as the "nephew of his uncle." He pos- 
sessed a large share of the Napoleonic ambition, and hoped by 
military glory to surround his throne with some of the luster of 
that of Napoleon the First. 

Whatever his private views, it is certain that France under 
his reign became the most aggressive nation of Europe, and the 
overweening ambition and self-confidence of the new emperor led 
him to the same end as his great uncle, that of disaster and 
overthrow. He was evidently bent on playing a leading part in 
European politics, showing the world that one worthy to bear the 
name of Napoleon was on the throne, and this ambition led him to 
acts that mainly served to demonstrate his incapacity. 

The very beginning of Louis Napoleon's career of ambition, as 
president of the French Republic, was signalized by an act of 
military aggression, in sending an army to Rome and putting an 
end to the new Italian republic. These troops were kept there 
until 1866, and the aspirations of the Italian patriots were held in 
check until that year. Only when United Italy stood menacingly 
at the gates of Rome were these foreign troops withdrawn. They 
had accomplished nothing other than to retard for a time the 
inevitable union of the Italian states into a single kingdom. 

In 1854, Napoleon allied himself with the British and the Turks 
against Russia, and sent an army to the Crimea, which played an 
effective part in the great struggle in that peninsula. The troops 
of France had the honor of rendering Sebastopol untenable, carry- 
ing by storm one of its two great fortresses and turning its guns 
upon the city. 

WAR WITH AUSTRIA 

The next act of aggression of the French emperor was against 
Austria. As the career of conquest of Napoleon I had begun 
with an attack upon the Austrians in Italy, Napoleon III attempted 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 225 

a similar enterprise, and with equal success. He had long been 
cautiously preparing in secret for hostilities with Austria, thus 
to emulate his great uncle, but lacked a satisfactory excuse for 
declaring war. This came in 1858 from an attempt at assassina- 
tion. Felice Orsini, a fanatical Italian patriot, incensed at Napo- 
leon from his failing to come to the aid of Italy, launched three 
explosive bombs against his carriage. The effect was fatal to many 
of the people in the street, though the intended victim escaped. 
Orsini won sympathy while in prison by his patriotic sentiments 
and the steadfastness of his love for his country. "Remember 
that the Italians shed their blood for Napoleon the Great," he 
wrote to the emperor. " Liberate my country, and the blessings of 
twenty-five millions of people will follow you to posterity." 

Louis Napoleon had once been a member of a secret political 
society of Italy; he had taken the oath of initiation; his failure to 
come to the aid of that country when in power constituted him a 
traitor to his oath and one doomed to death; the act of Orsini was 
apparently the work of the society. That he was deeply moved by 
the attempted assassination is certain, and the result of his combined 
fear and ambition was soon to be shown by a movement in favor of 
Italian independence. 

On New Year's Day, 1859, while receiving the diplomatic 
corps at the Tuileries, Napoleon addressed the following significant 
words to the Austrian ambassador: "I regret that our relations 
are not so cordial as I could wish, but I beg you to report to the 
Emperor that my personal sentiments towards him remain 
unaltered." 

Such is the masked way in which diplomats announce an 
intention of war. The meaning of the threatening words was 
soon shown, when Victor Emmanuel, shortly afterwards, announced 
at the opening of the Chambers in Turin that Sardinia could no 
longer remain indifferent to the cry for help which was rising from 
all Italy. Ten years had passed since the defeat of the Sardinians 
by an Austrian army on the plains of Lombardy, and the end for 

15 



226 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

the time of their hopes of a free and united Italy. During that 
time they had cherished a hope of retribution, and the words of 
Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel made it evident to them that an 
alliance had been made with France and that the hour of vengeance 
was at hand. 

Austria was ready for the contest. Her finances, indeed, were 
in a serious state, but she had a large army in Lombardy. This was 
increased, Lombardy was declared in a state of siege, and every 
step was taken to guard against assault from Sardinia. Delay was 
disadvantageous to Austria, as it would permit her enemies to com- 
plete their preparations, and on April 23, 1859, an ultimatum came 
from Vienna, demanding that Sardinia should put her army on 
a peace footing or war would ensue. 

THE AUSTRIANS ADVANCE 

A refusal came from Turin. Immediately Field-marshal 
Gyulai received orders to cross the Ticino. Thus, after ten years 
of peace, the beautiful plains of Northern Italy were once more 
to endure the ravages of war. This act of Austria was severely 
criticized by the neutral Powers, which had been seeking to allay 
the trouble. Napoleon took advantage of it, as an aid to his pur- 
poses, and accused Austria of breaking the peace by invading the 
territory of his ally, the king of Sardinia. 

The real fault committed by Austria, under the circumstances, 
was not in precipitating war, which could not well be avoided in the 
temper of her antagonists, but in putting, through court favor and 
privileges of rank, an incapable leader at the head of the army. 
Old Radetzky, the victor in the last war, was dead, but there were 
other able leaders who were thrust aside in favor of the Hungarian 
noble Franz Gyulai, a man without experience as commander- 
in-chief of an army. 

By his uncertain and dilatory movements Gyulai gave the 
Sardinians time to concentrate an army of 80,000 men around the 
fortress of Alessandria, and lost all the advantage of being the first 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 227 

in the field. In early May the French army reached Italy, partly 
by way of the St. Bernard Pass, partly by sea; and Garibaldi, with 
his mountaineers, took up a position that would enable him to attack 
the right wing of the Austrians. 

Later in the month Napoleon himself appeared, his presence 
and the name he bore inspiring the soldiers with new valor, while 
his first order of the day, in which he recalled the glorious deeds 
which their fathers had done on those plains under his great uncle, 
roused them to the highest enthusiasm. While assuming the title 
of commander-in-chief, he was wise enough to leave the conduct 
of the war to his abler subordinates, MacMahon, Niel, and others. 

The Austrian general, having lost the opportunity to attack, 
was now put on the defensive, in which his incompetence was equally 
manifested. Being quite ignorant of the position of the foe, he sent 
Count Stadion, with 12,000 men, on a reconnaissance. An encounter 
took place at Montebello on May 20th, in which, after a sharp 
engagement, Stadion was forced to retreat. Gyulai directed his 
attention to that quarter, leaving Napoleon to march unmolested 
from Alessandria to the invasion of Lombardy. Gyulai now, 
aroused by the danger of Milan, began his retreat across the Ticino, 
which he had so uselessly crossed. 

The road to Milan crossed both the Ticino River and the 
Naviglio Grande, a broad and deep canal a few miles east of the 
river. Some distance farther on lies the village of Magenta, the 
seat of the first great battle of the war. Sixty years before, on 
those Lombard plains, Napoleon the Great had first lost, and 
then, by a happy chance, won the famous battle of Marengo. The 
Napoleon now in command was a very different man from the 
mighty soldier of the year 1800, and the French escaped a dis- 
astrous rout only because the Austrians were led by a still worse 
general. Some one has said that victory comes to the army that 
makes the fewest blunders. Such seems to have been the case 
in the battle of Magenta, where military genius was the one 
thine; wanting. 



228 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

The French pushed on, crossed the river without finding a 
man to dispute the passage — other than a much-surprised customs 
official — and reached an undefended bridge across the canal. 
The high road to Milan seemed deserted by the Austrians. But 
Napoleon's troops were drawn out in a preposterous line, straddling 
a river and a canal, both difficult to cross, and without any defen- 
sive positions to hold against an attack in force. He supposed that 
the Austrians were stretched out in a similar long line. This was 
not the case. Gyulai had all the advantages of position, and 
might have concentrated his army and crushed the advanced corps 
of the French if he had known his situation and his business. As 
it was, between ignorance on the one hand and indecision on the 
other, the battle was fought with about equal forces in the field 
on either side. 

The first contest took place at Buffalora, a village on the 
canal, where the French encountered the Austrians in force. Here 
a bloody struggle went on for hours, ending in the capture of the 
place by the Grenadiers of the Guard, who held on to it after- 
wards with stubborn courage. 

THE BATTLE OF MAGENTA 

General MacMahon, in command of the advance, had his 
orders to march forward, whatever happened, to the church-tower 
of Magenta, and, in strict obedience to orders, he pushed on, 
leaving the grenadiers to hold their own as best they could at Buf- 
falora, and heedless of the fact that the reserve troops of the army 
had not yet begun to cross the river. It was the 5th of June, and 
the day was well advanced when MacMahon came in contact 
with the Austrians at Magenta, and the great contest of the day 
began. 

It was a battle in which the commanders on both sides, with 
the exception of MacMahon, showed lack of military skill and 
the soldiers on both sides the staunchest courage. The Austrians 
seemed devoid of plan or system, and their several divisions were 




KING EDWARD VII 

He succeeded to the British throne January 22, 1901, after the death of his 
mother, Queen Victoria, and reigned until his death on May 6, 1910. 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 229 

beaten in detail by the French. On the other hand, General 
Camou, in command of the second division of MacMahon's corps, 
acted as Desaix had done at the battle of Marengo, marched at 
the sound of the distant cannon. But, unlike Desaix, he moved 
so deliberately that it took him six hours to make less than five 
miles. He was a tactician of the old school, imbued with the idea 
that every march should be made in perfect order. 

At half-past four MacMahon, with his uniform in disorder 
and followed by a few officers of his staff, dashed back to hurry 
up this deliberate reserve. On the way thither he rode into a body 
of Austrian sharpshooters. Fortune favored him. Not dreaming 
of the presence of the French general, they saluted him as one 
of their own commanders. On his way back he made a second 
narrow escape from capture by the Uhlans. 

The drums now beat the charge, and a determined attack was 
made by the French, the enemy's main column being taken between 
two fires. Desperately resisting, it was forced back step by step 
upon Magenta. Into the town the columns rolled, and the fight 
became fierce around the church. High in the tower of this edifice 
stood the Austrian general and his staff, watching the fortunes of 
the fray; and from this point he caught sight of the four regiments 
of Camou, advancing as regularly as if on parade. They were 
not given the chance to fire a shot or receive a scratch, eager as 
they were to take part in the fight. At sight of them the Austrian 
general ordered a retreat and the battle was at an end. The 
French owed their victory largely to General Mellinet and his 
Grenadiers of the Guard, who held their own like bull-dogs at 
Buffalora while Camou was advancing with the deliberation of 
the old military rules. 

MacMahon and Mellinet and the French had won the day. 
Victor Emmanuel and the Sardinians did not reach the ground 
until after the battle was at an end. For his services on that day 
of glory for France MacMahon was made Marshal of France and 
Duke of Magenta. 



230 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

POSSESSION OF LOMBARDY 

The prize of the victory of Magenta was the possession of 
Lombardy. Gyulai, unable to collect his scattered divisions, gave 
orders for a general retreat. Milan was evacuated with precipitate 
haste, and the garrisons were withdrawn from all the towns, leav- 
ing them to be occupied by the French and Italians. On the 8th 
of June Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel rode into Milan side by 
side, amid the loud acclamations of the people, who looked upon 
this victory as an assurance of Italian freedom and unity. Mean- 
while the Austrians retreated without interruption, not halting 
until they arrived at the Mincio, where they were protected by 
the famous Quadrilateral, consisting of the four powerful fortresses 
of Peschiera, Mantua, Verona, and Leguano, the mainstay of the 
Austrian power in Italy. 

The French and Italians slowly pursued the retreating Aus- 
trians, and on the 23d of June bivouacked on both banks of the 
Chiese River, about fifteen miles west of the Mincio. The Emperor 
Francis Joseph had recalled the incapable Gyulai, and, in hopes 
of inspiring his soldiers with new spirit, himself took command. 
The two emperors, neither of them soldiers, were thus pitted against 
each other, and Francis Joseph, eager to retrieve the disaster at 
Magenta, resolved to quit his strong position of defense in the 
Quadrilateral and assume the offensive. 

FRENCH VICTORY AT SOLFERINO 

At two o'clock in the morning of the 24th the allied French 
and Italian army resumed its march, Napoleon's orders for the 
day being based upon the reports of Iris reconnoitering parties and 
spies. These led him to believe that, although a strong detach- 
ment of the enemy might be encountered west of the Mincio, the 
main body of the Austrians was awaiting him on the eastern side 
of the river. But the French intelligence department was badly 
served. The Austrians had stolen a march upon Napoleon. 
Undetected by the French scouts, they had reerossed the Mincio, 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 231 

and by nightfall of the 23d their leading columns were occupying 
the ground on which the French were ordered to bivouac on the 
evening of the 24th. The intention of the Austrian emperor, now 
commanding his army in person, had been to push forward rapidly 
and fall upon the allies before they had completed the passage of 
the river Chiese. But this scheme, like that of Napoleon, was 
based on defective information. The allies broke up from their 
bivouacs many hours before the Austrians expected them to do 
so, and when the two armies came in contact early in the morn- 
ing of the 24th of June the Austrians were quite as much taken 
by surprise as the French. 

The Austrian army, superior in numbers to its opponents, 
was posted in a half-circle between the Mincio and Chiese, with 
the intention of pressing forward from these points upon a center. 
But the line was extended too far, and the center was compara- 
tively weak and without reserves. Napoleon, who that morning 
received complete intelligence of the position of the Austrian 
army, accordingly directed his chief strength against the enemy's 
center, which rested upon a height near the village of Solferino. 

Here, on the 24th of June, after a murderous conflict, in which 
the French commanders hurled continually renewed masses against 
the decisive position, while on the other side the Austrian reinforce- 
ments failed through lack of unity of plan and decision of action, 
the heights were at length won by the French troops in spite of 
heroic resistance on the part of the Austrian soldiers; the Austrian 
line of battle being cut through, and the army thus divided into 
two separate masses. A second attack which Napoleon promptly 
directed against Cavriano had a similar result; for the commands 
given by the Austrian generals were confused and had no general 
and definite aim. 

The fate of the battle was already in a great measure decided, 
when a tremendous storm broke forth that put an end to the 
combat at most points, and gave the Austrians an opportunity 
to retire in order. Only Benedek, who had twice beaten back the 



232 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

Sardinians at various points, continued the struggle for some 
hours longer. On the French side Marshal Niel had pre-eminently 
distinguished himself by acuteness and bravery. It was a day of 
bloodshed, on which two great powers had measured their strength 
against each other for twelve hours. The Austrians had to lament 
the loss of 13,000 dead and wounded, and left 9,000 prisoners in 
the enemy's hands; on the side of the French and Sardinians the 
number of killed and wounded was even greater, for repeated at- 
tacks had been made upon well-defended heights, but the number 
of prisoners was not nearly so great. 

TREATY OF PEACE 

The victories in Italy filled the French people with the warm- 
est admiration for their emperor, they thinking, in their enthu- 
siasm, that a true successor of Napoleon the Great had come to 
bring glory to their arms. Italy also was full of enthusiastic hope, 
fancying that the freedom and unity of the Italians was at last 
assured. Both nations were, therefore, bitterly disappointed in 
learning that the war was at an end, and that a hasty peace had 
been arranged between the emperors which left the hoped-for 
work but half achieved. 

Napoleon estimated his position better than his people. 
Despite his victories, his situation was one of danger and difficulty. 
The army had suffered severely in its brief campaign, and the 
Austrians were still in possession of the Quadrilateral, a square 
of powerful fortresses which he might seek in vain to reduce. And 
a threat of serious trouble had arisen in Germany. The victorious 
career of a new Napoleon in Italy was alarming. It was not 
easy to forget the past. The German powers, though they had 
declined to come to the aid of Austria, were armed and ready, 
and at any moment might begin a hostile movement upon the 
Rhine. 

Napoleon, wise enough to secure what he had won, without 
hazarding its loss, arranged a meeting with the Austrian emperor, 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 233 

whom he found quite as ready for peace. The terms of the truce 
arranged between them were that Austria should abandon Lom- 
bardy to the line of the Mincio, almost its eastern boundary, and 
that Italy should form a confederacy under the presidency of the 
pope. In the treaty subsequently made only the first of these con- 
ditions was maintained, Lombardy passing to the king of Sardinia. 
He received also the small states of Central Italy, whose tyrants 
had fled, ceding to Napoleon, as a reward for his assistance, the 
realm of Savoy and the city and territory of Nice. 

INVASION OF MEXICO 

Napoleon III had now reached the summit of his career. In 
the succeeding years the French were to learn that they had put 
their faith in a hollow emblem of glory, and he was to lose the 
prestige he had falsely gained at Magenta and Solferino. His first 
serious mistake was when he yielded to the voice of ambition, and, 
taking advantage of the occupation of the Americans in their 
civil war, sent an army to invade Mexico. 

The ostensible purpose of this invasion was to collect a debt 
which the Mexicans had refused to pay, and Great Britain and Spain 
were induced to take part in the expedition. But their forces were 
withdrawn when they found that Napoleon had other purposes in 
view, and his army was left to fight its battles alone. After some 
sanguinary engagements, the Mexican army was broken into a 
series of guerilla bands, incapable of facing his well-drilled troops, 
and Napoleon proceeded to reorganize Mexico as an empire, placing 
the Archduke Maximilian of Austria on the throne. 

All went well while the people of the United States were fighting 
for their national union, but when their war was over the ambitious 
French emperor was soon taught that he had committed a serious 
error. He was given plainly to understand that the French troops 
could only be kept in Mexico at the cost of a war with the United 
States, and he found it convenient to withdraw them early in 1867. 
They had no sooner gone than the Mexicans were in arms against 



234 THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

Maximilian, whose rash acceptance of the advice of the clerical 
party and determination to remain quickly led to his capture and 
execution as a usurper. Thus ended in utter failure the most 
daring effort to ignore the "Monroe Doctrine." 

END OF NAPOLEON'S CAREER 

The inaction of Napoleon during the wars which Prussia fought 
with Denmark and Austria gave further blows to his prestige in 
France, and the opposition to his policy of personal government 
grew so strong that he felt himself obliged to submit his policy to a 
vote of the people. He was sustained by a large majority, perhaps 
obtained by the methods familiar to politicians. Certainly he 
perceived that his power was sinking. He was obliged to loosen the 
reins of government at home, in spite of the fact that the yielding 
of increased liberty to the people would diminish his own control. 
Finally, finding himself failing in health, confidence and reputation, 
he yielded to advisers who convinced him that the only hope for 
his dynasty lay in a successful war. As a result he undertook the 
war of 1870 against Prussia. The story of this war will be given 
in a subsequent chapter. All that need be said here is that it proved 
the utter incompetence of Napoleon III in military matters, he 
being completely deceived in the condition of the French army 
and unwarrantably ignorant of that of the Germans. The con- 
ditions were such that victory for France was impossible, France 
losing its second empire and Napoleon his throne. He died two 
years later, an exile in England, that place of shelter for the royal 
refugees of France. 



CHAPTER XV 

Garibaldi and Italian Unity 

Power of Austria Broken 

The Carbonari — Mazzini and Garibaldi — Cavour, the Statesman — The Invasion of 
Sicily — Occupation of Naples — Victor Emmanuel Takes Command — Watchword of 
the Patriots — Garibaldi Marches Against Rome — Battle of Ironclads — Final Act of 

Italian Unity. 

FROM the time of the fall of the Roman Empire until late 
in the nineteenth century, a period of some fourteen hun- 
dred years, Italy remained disunited, divided up among 
a series of states, small and large, hostile and peaceful, while its 
territory was made the battle-field of the surrounding Powers, the 
helpless prey of Germany, France and Spain. Even the strong 
hand of Napoleon failed to bring it unity, and after his fall its 
condition was worse than before, for Austria held most of the north 
and exerted a controlling power over the, remainder of the penin- 
sula, so that the fair form of liberty fled in dismay from its shores. 
But the work of Napoleon had inspired the patriots of Italy 
with a new sentiment, that of union. Before the Napoleonic era 
the thought of a united Italy scarcely existed, and patriotism 
meant adherence to Sardinia, Naples, or some other of the many 
kingdoms and duchies. After that era union became the watch- 
word of the revolutionists, who felt that the only hope of giving 
Italy a position of dignity and honor among the nations lay in 
making it one country under one ruler. The history of the nine- 
teenth century in Italy is the record of the attempt to reach this 
end, and its successful accomplishment. And on that record the 
names of two men most prominently appear, Mazzini, the inde- 
fatigable conspirator, and Garibaldi, the valorous fighter; to whose 
names should be added that of the eminent statesman, Count 

(235) 



236 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

Cavour, and that of the man who reaped the benefit of their patriotic 
labors, Victor Emmanuel, the first king of united Italy. 

THE CARBONARI 

The basis of the revolutionary movements in Italy was the 
secret political association known as the Carbonari, formed early 
in the nineteenth century and including members of all classes in 
its ranks. In 1814 this powerful society projected a revolution hi 
Naples, and in 1820 it was strong enough to invade Naples with 
an army and force from the king an oath to observe the new con- 
stitution which it had prepared. The revolution was put down 
in the following year by the Austrians, acting as the agents of the 
"Holy Alliance" — the compact of Austria, Prussia and Russia. 

An ordinance was passed condemning any one who should 
attend a meeting of the Carbonari to capital punishment. But 
the society continued to exist, despite this severe enactment, and 
was at the basis of many of the outbreaks that took place in Italy 
from 1820 onward. Mazzini, Garibaldi, and all the leading patriots 
were members of this powerful organization, which was daring 
enough to condemn Napoleon III to death, and almost to succeed 
in his assassination, for his failure to live up to his obligations as a 
member of the society. 

MAZZINI AND GARIBALDI 

Giuseppe Mazzini, a native of Genoa, became a member of 
the Carbonari in 1830. His activity in revolutionary movements 
caused him soon after to be proscribed, and in 1831 he sought 
Marseilles, where he organized a new political society called "Young 
Italy," whose watchword was "God and the People," and whose 
basic principle was the union of the several states and kingdoms 
into one nation, as the only true foundation of Italian liberty. 
This purpose he avowed in his writings and pursued through exile 
and adversity with inflexible constancy, and it is largely due to 
the work of this earnest patriot that Italy today is a single king- 




< 






Leon Gambetta. 



M. Armand Fallieres. 





Adolphe Thiers. Ferdinand De Lesseps. 

EMINENT MEN OF MODERN FRANCE 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 237 

dom instead of a medley of separate states. Only in one particular 
did he fail. His persistent purpose was to establish a republic, 
not a monarchy. 

While Mazzini was thus working with his pen, his compatriot, 
Giuseppe Garibaldi, was working as earnestly with his sword. This 
daring soldier, a native of Nice and reared to a life on the sea, 
was banished as a revolutionist in 1834, and the succeeding four- 
teen years of his life were largely spent in South America, in whose 
wars he played a leading part. 

The revolution of 1848 opened Italy to these two patriots, 
and they hastened to return; Garibaldi to offer his services to 
Charles Albert of Sardinia, by whom, however, he was treated with 
coldness and distrust. Mazzini, after founding the Roman republic 
in 1849, called upon Garibaldi to come to its defense, and the latter 
displayed the greatest heroism in the contest against the Neapolitan 
and French invaders. He escaped from Rome on its capture by 
the French, and, after many desperate conflicts and adventures 
with the Austrians, was again driven into exile, and in 1850 became 
a resident of New York. For some time he worked in a manufac- 
tory of candles on Staten Island, and afterwards made several 
voyages on the Pacific. 

The war in 1859 of Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel against 
the Austrians in Lombardy opened a new and promising channel 
for the devotion of Garibaldi to his native land. Being appointed 
major-general and commissioned to raise a volunteer corps, he 
organized the hardy body of mountaineers called the " Hunters 
of the Alps," and with them performed prodigies of valor on the 
plains of Lombardy, winning victories over the Austrians at Varese, 
Como and other places. In his ranks was his fellow-patriot Mazzini. 

The success of the French and Sardinians in Lombardy during 
this war stirred Italy to its center. The grand duke of Tuscany 
fled to Austria. The duchess of Parma sought refuge in Switzer- 
land. The duke of Modena found shelter in the Austrian camp. 
Everywhere the brood of tyrants took to flight. Bologna threw 



238 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

off its allegiance to the pope, and proclaimed the king of Sardinia 
dictator. Several other towns in the States of the Church did the 
same. In the terms of the truce between Louis Napoleon and 
Francis Joseph the rulers of these realms were to resume their 
reigns if the people would permit. But the people would not 
permit, and these minor states were all annexed to Sardinia, which 
country was greatly expanded as a result of the war. 

CAVOUR THE STATESMAN 

It will not suffice to give all the credit for these revolutionary 
movements to Mazzini, the organizer, Garibaldi, the soldier, and 
the ambitious monarchs of France and Sardinia. More important 
than king and emperor was the eminent statesman, Count Cavour, 
prune minister of Sardinia from 1852. It is to this able man that 
the honor of the unification of Italy most fully belongs, though he 
did not live to see it. He sent a Sardinian army to the assistance 
of France and England in the Crimea in 1855, and by this act gave 
his state a standing among the Powers of Europe. He secured 
liberty of the press and favored toleration in religion and freedom 
of trade. He rebelled against the dominion of the papacy, and 
devoted his abilities to the liberation and unity of Italy, undis- 
mayed by the angry fulminations from the Vatican. The war of 
1859 was his work, and he had the satisfaction of seeing Sardinia 
increased by the addition of Lombardy, Tuscany, Parma and 
Modena. A great step had been taken in the work to which he had 
devoted his life. 

THE INVASION OF SICILY 

The next step in the great work was taken by Garibaldi, who 
now struck at the powerful kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the 
south. It seemed a difficult task. Francis II, the son and successor 
of the infamous "King Bomba," had a well-organized army of 
150,000 men. But his father's tyranny had rilled the land with 
secret societies, and fortunately at this time the Swiss mercenaries 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 239 

were recalled home, leaving to Francis only his native troops, many 
of them disloyal at heart to his cause. This was the critical interval 
which Mazzini and Garibaldi chose for their work. 

At the beginning of April, 1860, the signal was given by separate 
insurrections in Messina and Palermo. These were easily sup- 
pressed by the troops in garrison; but though both cities were 
declared in a state of siege, demonstrations took place by which 
the revolutionary chiefs excited the public mind. On the 6th of 
May, Garibaldi started with two steamers from Genoa with about 
a thousand Italian volunteers, and on the 11th landed near Marsala, 
on the west coast of Sicily. He proceeded to the mountains, and 
near Salemi gathered round him the scattered bands of the free 
corps. By the 14th his army had increased to 4,000 men. He 
now issued a proclamation, in which he took upon himself the 
dictatorship of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, king of 
Italy. 

After waging various successful combats under the most 
difficult circumstances, Garibaldi advanced upon the capital, 
announcing his arrival by beacon-fires kindled at night. On the 
27th he was in front of the Porta Termina of Palermo, and at once 
gave the signal for the attack. The people rose in mass, and 
assisted the operations of the besiegers by barricade-fighting in 
the streets. In a few hours half the town was in Garibaldi's 
hands. But now General Lanza, whom the young king had dis- 
patched with strong reinforcements to Sicily, furiously bom- 
barded the insurgent city, so that Palermo was reduced almost 
to a heap of ruins. 

At this juncture, by the intervention of an English admiral, 
an armistice was concluded, which led to the departure of the 
Neapolitan troops and war vessels and the surrender of the town 
to Garibaldi, who thus, with a band of 5,000 badly armed fol- 
lowers, had gained a signal advantage over a regular army of 
25,000 men. This event had tremendous consequences, for it 
showed the utter hollowness of the Neapolitan government, while 



240 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

Garibaldi's fame was everywhere spread abroad. The glowing 
fancy of the Italians beheld in him the national hero before whom 
every enemy would bite the dust. This idea seemed to extend 
even to the Neapolitan court itself, where all was doubt, confusion 
and dismay. The king hastily summoned a liberal ministry, and 
offered to restore the constitution of 1848, but the general verdict 
was, "too late," and his proclamation fell flat on a people who 
had no trust in Bourbon faith. 

The arrival of Garibaldi in Naples was enough to set in blaze 
all the combustible materials in that state. His appearance there 
was not long delayed. Six weeks after the surrender of Palermo 
he marched against Messina. On the 21st of July the fortress of 
Melazzo was evacuated, and a week afterwards all Messina except 
the citadel was given up. 

OCCUPATION OF NAPLES 

Europe was astounded at the remarkable success of Gari- 
baldi's handful of men. On the mainland his good fortune was 
still more astonishing. He had hardly landed — which he did 
almost in the face of the Neapolitan fleet — when Reggio was sur- 
rendered and its garrison withdrew. His progress through the 
south of the kingdom was like a triumphal procession. At the 
end of August he was at Cosenza; on the 5th of September at 
Eboli, near Salerno. No resistance appeared. His very name 
seemed to work like magic on the population. The capital had 
been declared in a state of siege, and on September 6th the king 
took to flight, retiring, with the 4,000 men still faithful to him, 
behind the Volturno. The next day Garibaldi, with a few fol- 
lowers, entered Naples, whose populace received him with frantic 
shouts of welcome. 

The remarkable achievements of Garibaldi filled all Italy 
with overmastering excitement. He had declared that he would 
proclaim the kingdom of Italy from the heart of its capital city, 
and nothing less than this would content the people. The position 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 241 

of the pope had become serious. He refused to grant the reforms 
suggested by the French emperor, and threatened with excom- 
munication any one who should meddle with the domain of the 
Church. Money was collected from faithful Catholics throughout 
the world, a summons was issued calling for recruits to the holy 
army of the pope, and the exiled French General Lamoriciere was 
given the chief command of the troops, composed of men who 
had flocked to Rome from many nations. It was hoped that the 
name of the celebrated French leader would have a favorable 
influence on the troops of the French garrison of Rome. 

The settlement of the perilous situation seemed to rest with 
Louis Napoleon. If he had let Garibaldi have his way the latter 
would, no doubt, have quickly ended the temporal sovereignty 
of the pope and made Rome the capital of Italy. But Napoleon 
seems to have arranged with Cavour to leave the king of Sardinia 
free to take possession of Naples, Umbria and the other provinces, 
provided that Rome and the " patrimony of St. Peter" were left 
intact. 

VICTOR EMMANUEL TAKES COMMAND 

At the beginning of September two Sardinian army corps, 
under Fanti and Cialdini, marched to the borders of the states 
of the Church. Lamoriciere advanced against Cialdini with his 
motley troops, but was quickly defeated, and on the following 
day was besieged in the fortress of Ancona. On the 29th he and 
the garrison surrendered as prisoners of war. On the 9th of 
October Victor Emmanuel arrived and took command. There 
was no longer a papal army to oppose him, and the march south- 
ward proceeded without a check. 

The object of the king in assuming the chief command was 
to complete the conquest of the kingdom of Naples, in conjunction 
with Garibaldi. For though Garibaldi had entered the capital in 
triumph, the progress on the line of the Volturno had been slow; 
and the expectation that the Neapolitan army would go over to 

16 



242 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

the invaders in a mass had not been realized. The great majority 
of the troops remained faithful to the flag, so that Garibaldi, 
although his irregular bands amounted to more than 25,000 men, 
could not hope to drive away King Francis, or to take the fortresses 
of Capua and Gaeta, without the help of Sardinia. Against the 
diplomatic statesman Cavour, who fostered no illusions, and saw 
the conditions of affairs in its true light, the simple, honest Gari- 
baldi cherished a deep aversion. He could never forgive Cavour 
for having given up Nice, Garibaldi's native town, to the French. 
On the other hand, he felt attracted toward the king, who, in his 
opinion, seemed to be the man raised up by Providence for the 
liberation of Italy. 

Accordingly, when Victor Emmanuel entered Sessa, at the 
head of his army, Garibaldi was easily induced to place his dicta- 
torial power in the hands of the king, to whom he left the com- 
pletion of the work of the union of Italy. After greeting Victor 
Emmanuel with the title of King of Italy, and giving the required 
resignation of his power, with the words, "Sire, I obey," he 
entered Naples, riding beside the king; and then, after recom- 
mending his companions in arms to his majesty's special favor, he 
retired to his home on the island of Caprera, refusing to receive a 
reward, in any shape or form, for his services to the state and 
its head. 

The progress of the Sardinian army compelled Francis to 
give up the line of the Volturno, and he eventually took refuge, 
with his best troops, in the fortress of Gaeta. On the maintenance 
of this fortress hung the fate of the kingdom of Naples. Its 
defense is the only bright point in the career of the feeble Francis, 
whose courage was aroused by the heroic resolution of his young 
wife, the Bavarian Princess Mary. For three months the defense 
continued. But no European Power came to the aid of the king, 
disease appeared with scarcity of food and of munitions of war, 
and the garrison was at length forced to capitulate. The fall of 
Gaeta was practically the completion of the great work of the 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 243 

unification of Italy. Only Rome and Venice remained to be added 
to the united kingdom. On February 18, 1861, Victor Emmanuel 
assembled at Turin the deputies of all the states that acknowledged 
his supremacy, and in their presence assumed the title of King of 
Italy, which he was the first to bear. In four months afterwards 
Count Cavour, to whom this great work was largely due, died. 
He had lived long enough to see the purpose of his life practically 
accomplished. 

WATCHWORD OF THE PATRIOTS 

Great as had been the change which two years had made, the 
patriots of Italy were not satisfied. "Free from the Alps to the 
Adriatic!" was their cry; "Rome and Venice!" became the watch- 
word of the revolutionists. Mazzini, who had sought to found a 
republic, was far from content, and the agitation went on. 
Garibaldi was drawn into it, and made bitter complaint of the 
treatment his followers had received. In 1862, disheartened at 
the inaction of the king, he determined to undertake against Rome 
an expedition like that which he had led against Naples two 
years before. 

In June he sailed from Genoa and landed at Palermo, where 
he was quickly joined by an enthusiastic party of volunteers. 
They supposed that the government secretly favored their design, 
but the king had no idea of fighting against the French troops in 
Rome and arousing international complications, and he energetic- 
ally warned all Italians against taking part in revolutionary 
enterprises. 

GARIBALDI MARCHES AGAINST ROME 

But Garibaldi persisted in his design. When his wa} r was 
barred by the garrison of Messina he turned aside to Catania, 
where he embarked with 2,000 volunteers, declaring he would enter 
Rome as a victor, or perish beneath its walls. He landed at Melito 
on the 24th of August, and threw himself at once, with his fol- 



244 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

lowers, into the Calabrian mountains. But his enterprise was 
quickly and disastrously ended. General Cialdini despatched a 
division of the regular army, under Colonel Pallavicino, against the 
volunteer bands. At Aspromonte, on the 28th of August, the 
two forces came into collison. A chance shot was followed by 
several volleys from the regulars. Garibaldi forbade his men to 
return the fire of their fellow-subjects of the Italian kingdom. He 
was wounded, and taken prisoner with his followers, a few of whom 
had been slain in the short combat. A government steamer car- 
ried the wounded chief to Varignano, where he was held in a sort 
of honorable imprisonment, and was compelled to undergo a 
tedious and painful operation for the healing of his wound. He 
had at least the consolation that all Europe looked with sympathy 
and interest upon the unfortunate hero; and a general sense of 
relief was felt when, restored to health, he was set free, and 
allowed to return to his rocky island of Caprera. 

Victor Emmanuel was seeking to accomplish his end by safer 
means. The French garrison of Rome was the obstacle in his 
way, and this was finally removed through a treaty with Louis 
Napoleon in September, 1864, the emperor agreeing to withdraw 
his troops during the succeeding two years, in which the pope was 
to raise an army large enough to defend his dominions. Florence 
was to replace Turin as the capital of Italy. This arrangement 
created such disturbances in Turin that the king was forced to 
leave that city hastily for his new capital. In December, 1866, 
the last of the French troops departed from Rome, in despite of the 
efforts of the pope to retain them. By their withdrawal Italy was 
freed from the presence of foreign soldiers for the first time prob- 
ably in a thousand years. 

In 1866 came an event which reacted favorably for Italy, 
though her part in it was the reverse of triumphant. This was the 
war between Prussia and Austria. Italy was in alliance with 
Prussia, and Victor Emmanuel hastened to lead an army across 
the Mincio to the invasion of Venetia, the last Austrian province 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 245 

in Italy. Garibaldi at the same time was to invade the Tyrol 
with his volunteers. The enterprise ended in disaster. The 
Austrian troops, under the Archduke Albert, encountered the 
Italians at Custozza and gained a brilliant victory, despite the 
much greater numbers of the Italians. 

Fortunately for Italy, the Austrians had been unsuccessful in 
the north, and the emperor, with the hope of gaining the alliance 
of France and breaking the compact between Italy and Prussia, 
decided to cede Venetia to Louis Napoleon. His purpose failed. 
All Napoleon did in response was to act as a peacemaker, while 
the Italian king refused to recede from his alliance. Though the 
Austrians were retreating from a country which no longer belonged 
to them, the invasion of Venetia by the Italians continued, and 
several conflicts with the Austrian army took place. 

BATTLE OF IRONCLADS 

But the most memorable event of this brief war occurred on 
the sea — the greatest battle of ironclad ships in the period between 
the American Civil War and the Japan-China contest. Both coun- 
tries concerned had fleets on the Adriatic. Italy was the strongest 
in naval vessels, possessing ten ironclads and a considerable number 
of wooden ships. Austria's ironclad fleet was seven in number, 
plated with thin iron and with no very heavy guns. In addition 
there was a number of wooden vessels and gunboats. But in com- 
mand of this fleet was an admiral in whose blood was the iron which 
was lacking on his ships, Tegetthoff, the Dewey of the Adriatic. 
Inferior as his ships were, his men were thoroughly drilled in the use 
of the guns and the evolutions of the ships, and when he sailed it 
was with the one thought of victory. 

Persano, the Italian admiral, as if despising his adversary, 
engaged in siege of the fortified island of Lissa, near the Dalmatian 
coast, leaving the Austrians to do what they pleased. What they 
pleased was to attack him with a fury such as has been rarely seen. 
Early on July 20, 1866, when the Italians were preparing for a com- 



246 GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

bined assault of the island by land and sea, their movement was 
checked by the signal displayed on a scouting frigate: " Suspicious- 
looking ships are in sight." Soon afterwards the Austrian fleet 
appeared, the ironclads leading, the wooden ships in the rear. 

The battle that followed has had no parallel before or since. 
The whole Austrian fleet was converted into rams. Tegetthoff 
gave one final order to his captains: "Close with the enemy and 
ram everything grey." Grey was the color of the Italian ships. 
The Austrian were painted black, so as to prevent any danger of 
error. 

Fire was opened at two miles distance, the balls being wasted 
in the waters between the fleets. "Full steam ahead," signaled 
Tegetthoff. On came the fleets, firing steadily, the balls now begin- 
ning to tell. "Ironclads will ram and sink the enemy," signaled 
Tegetthoff. It was the last order he gave until the battle was won. 

Soon the two lines of ironclads closed amid thick clouds of 
smoke. Tegetthoff, in his flagship, the Ferdinand Max, twice ram- 
med a grey ironclad without effect. Then, out of the smoke, loomed 
up the tall masts of the Re d'ltalia, Persano's flagship in the begin- 
ning of the fray. Against this vessel the Ferdinand Max rushed 
at full speed, and struck her fairly amidships. Her sides of iron 
were crushed in by the powerful blow, her tall masts toppled over, 
and down beneath the waves sank the great ship with her crew of 
600 men. The next minute another Italian ship came rushing upon 
the Austrian, and was only avoided by a quick turn of the helm. 

One other great disaster occurred to the Italians. The Palestro 
was set on fire, and the pumps were put actively to work to drown 
the magazine. The crew thought the work had been successfully 
performed, and that they were getting the fire under control, when 
there suddenly came a terrible burst of flame attended by a roar 
that drowned all the din of the battle. It was the death knell of 
400 men, for the Palestro had blown up with all on board. 

The great ironclad turret ship and ram of the Italian fleet, the 
Ajfondatore, to which Admiral Persano had shifted his flag, far the 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 247 

most powerful vessel in the Adriatic, kept outside of the battle- 
line, and was of little service in the fray. It was apparently afraid 
to encounter TegetthofPs terrible rams. The battle ended with 
the Austrian fleet, wooden vessels and all, passing practically 
unharmed through the Italian Lines into the harbor of Lissa, leaving 
death and destruction in their rear. Tegetthoff was the one Aus- 
trian who came out of that war with fame. Persano on his return 
home was put on trial for cowardice and incompetence. He was 
convicted of the latter and dismissed from the navy in disgrace. 

FINAL ACT OF ITALIAN UNITY 

But Italy, though defeated by land and sea, gamed a valuable 
prize from the war, for Napoleon ceded Venetia to the Italian 
king, and soon afterwards Victor Emmanuel entered Venice in 
triumph. Thus was completed the second act in the unification 
of Italy. 

The national party, with Garibaldi at its head, still aimed at 
the possession of Rome, as the historic capital of the peninsula. 
In 1867 he made a second attempt to capture Rome, but the papal 
army, strengthened with a new French auxiliary force, defeated his 
badly armed volunteers, and he was taken prisoner and held captive 
for a time, after which he was sent back to Caprera. This led to the 
French army of occupation being returned to Civita Vecchia, 
where it was kept for several years. 

The final act came as a consequence of the Franco-German 
war of 1870, which rendered necessary the withdrawal of the 
French troops from Italy. The pope was requested to make a 
peaceful abdication. As he refused this, the States of the Church 
were occupied up to the walls of the capital, and a three hours' 
cannonade of the city sufficed to bring the long strife to an end. 
Rome became the capital of Italy, and the whole peninsula, for 
the first time since the fall of the ancient Roman empire, was con- 
centrated into a single nation, under one king. 




CHAPTER XVI 

The Expansion of Germany 

Beginnings of Modern World Power 

William I of Prussia — Bismarck's Early Career — The Schleswig-Holstein Question — 
Conquest of the Duchies — Bismarck's Wider Views — War Forced on Austria — The 
War in Italy — Austria's Signal Defeat at Sadowa — The Treaty of Prague — Germany 

after 1866. 

^HE effort made in 1848 to unify Germany had failed for 
two reasons — first, because its promoters had not suffi- 
ciently clear and precise ideas, and, secondly, because they 
lacked material strength. Until 1859 reaction against novelties 
and their advocates dominated in Germany and even Prussia as 
well as in Austria. The Italian war, as was easily foreseen, and as 
wary counselors had told Napoleon III, revived the agitation in 
favor of unity beyond the Rhine. After September 16, 1859, it 
had its center in the national circle of Frankfort and its manifesto 
in the proclamation which this issued on September 4, 1860, a 
proclamation whose terms, though in moderate forms, clearly 
announced the design of excluding Austria from Germany. It was 
the object of those favoring unity, but with more decision than in 
1848, to place the group of German states under Prussia's imperial 
direction. The accession of a new king, William I, who was 
already in advance called William the Conqueror, was likely to 
bring this project to a successful issue. The future German 
emperor's predecessor, Frederick William IV, with the same ambi- 
tion as his brother, had too many prejudices and too much con- 
fusion in his mind to be capable of realizing it. Becoming insane 
towards the close of 1857, he had to leave the government to 
William, who, officially regent after October 7, 1858, became long 
on January 2, 1861. 

(248) 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 249 

WILLIAM I OF PRUSSIA 

The new sovereign was almost sixty-four years old. The son 
of Frederick William III and Queen Louisa, while yet a child he 
had witnessed the disasters of his country and his home, and then 
as a young man had had his first experience of arms towards the 
close of the Napoleonic wars. Obliged to flee during the revolt 
of 1848, he had afterwards, by his pro-English attitude at the time 
of the Crimean war, won the sympathies of the Liberals, who 
joyfully acclaimed his accession. To lower him to the rank of a 
party leader was to judge him erroneously. William I was above 
all a Prussian prince, serious, industrious, and penetrated with a 
sense of his duties to the state, the first of which, according to the 
men of his house, has ever been to aggrandize it; and he was also 
imbued with the idea that the state was essentially incarnate in 
him. 

"I am the first king," he said at his coronation, "to assume 
power since the throne has been surrounded with modern institu- 
tions, but I do not forget that the crown comes from (rod." 

He had none of the higher talents that mark great men, but he 
possessed the two essential qualities of the head of a state — firm- 
ness and judgment. He showed this by the way in which he chose 
and supported those who built up his greatness, and this merit is 
rarer than is generally supposed. A soldier above all, he saw that 
Prussia's ambitions could be realized only with a powerful army. 

Advised by Von Moltke, the army's chief of staff after 1858, 
and Von Roon, the great administrator, who filled the office of min- 
ister of war, he changed the organization of 1814, which had become 
insufficient. Instead of brigades formed in war time, half of men 
in active service and half of reserves, regiments were now recruited 
by a three (instead of a two) years' service and reinforced in case 
of need by the classes of reserves. The Landwehr, divided into two 
classes (twenty-five to thirty-two years and thirty-two to thirty- 
nine), was grouped separately. This system gave seven hundred 
thousand trained soldiers, Prussia having then seventeen million 



250 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

inhabitants. This was more than either France or Austria had. 
The armament was also superior. Frederick William I had already 
said that the first result to be obtained hi this direction was 
celerity in firing. This was assured by the invention of the 
needle gun. 

bismarck's early career 

Such a transformation entailed heavy expenses. The Prussian 
Chamber, made up for the most part of Liberals, did not appre- 
ciate its utility. Moreover, it was not in favor of increasing the 
number of officers, because they were recruited from the nobility. 
After having yielded with bad grace in 1860, the deputies refused 
the grants in 1861 and 1862. It was at this time that Bismarck 
was called to the ministry (September 24, 1862). Otto von Bis- 
marck-Schonhausen, born April 1, 1815, belonged by birth to 
that minor Prussian nobility, rough and realistic, but faithful and 
disciplined, which has ever been one of the Prussian state's sources 
of strength. After irregular studies at the University of Gottingen, 
he had entered the administration, but had not been able to stay 
in it, and had lived on his rather moderate estates until 1847. 
The diet of that year, to which he had been elected, brought him 
into prominence. There he distinguished himself in the Junker 
(poor country squires') party by his marked contempt for the 
Liberalism then in vogue and his insolence to the Liberals. Fred- 
\ erick William IV entrusted him with representing Prussia at 
Frankfort, where he assumed the same attitude towards the 
Austrians (1851-59). 

He was afterward ambassador at St. Petersburg, and had just 
been sent to Paris in the same capacity when he became prime 
minister. 

His character was a marked one. In it was evident a taste 
for sarcastic raillery and a sort of frankness, apparently brutal, 
but really more refined than cruel. His qualities were those 
of all great politicians, embracing energy, decision and realism; 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 251 

that is, talent for appreciating all things at their effective value 
and for not letting himself be duped either by appearances, by 
current theories, or by words. Very unfavorably received by the 
parliament, he paid little heed to the furious opposition of the 
deputies, causing to be promulgated by ordinance the budget 
which they refused him, suppressing hostile newspapers, treating 
his adversaries with studied insolence, and declaring to them that, 
if the Chamber had its rights, the king also had his, and that force 
must settle the matter in such a case. To get rid of these barren 
struggles, he took advantage of the first incident of foreign politics. 
The Schleswig-Holstein question furnished him with the desired 
opportunity. 

THE SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION 

This was the first of the various important questions of inter- 
national policy in which Bismarck became concerned. The united 
provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, lying on the northern border of 
Denmark, had long been notable as a source of continual strife 
between Germany and Denmark. The majority of the inhabitants 
of Schleswig were Danes, but those of Holstein were very largely 
Germans, and the question of their true national affiliation lay 
open from the time of their original union in 1386. It became 
insistent after the middle of the nineteenth century. 

The treaty of London in 1852 had maintained the union of 
Holstein with Denmark, but did not put a definite end to the 
demands of the Germans, who held that it was a constituent part 
of Germany. The quarrel was renewed in 1855 over a conmion 
constitution given by King Frederick VII to all his states. This 
was abolished in 1858, and afterwards the Danes sought to grant 
complete autonomy to the duchies of Schleswig and Lauenburg, 
this movement being with the purpose of making more complete 
the union of Schleswig with their country. This step, taken in 
1863, led to a protest from the German diet. 

In all this there was food for an indefinite contest, for, on the 



252 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

one hand, Schleswig did not form a part of the Confederation, but, 
on the other, certain historical bonds attached it to Holstein, and 
its population was mixed. The death of Frederick VII (November 
15, 1863), who was succeeded by a distant relative, Christian IX, 
further complicated the quarrel. The duke of Augustenburg 
claimed the three duchies, though he had previously renounced 
them. The German diet, on its part, wanted the Danish constitu- 
tion abolished in Schleswig. 

The dream of the petty German states hostile to Prussia, and 
especially of the Saxon minister, Von Beust, was to strengthen 
their party by the creating of a new duchy. Bismarck admirably 
outplayed everybody. He knew that the great Powers were at 
odds with one another over Poland. He, on the contrary, could 
count on Russia's friendship and the personal aid of Queen 
Victoria, whom Prince Albert had completely won over to pro- 
German ideas. He used England to make Christian IX consent 
to the occupation of Holstein, which, he said, was in reality an 
acknowledgment of that king's rights. At this stage, had the 
Danes yielded to the necessities of the situation and withdrawn 
from Schleswig under protest, the European Powers would prob- 
ably have intervened and a congress would have restored Schles- 
wig to the Danish realm. Bismarck prevented this by a cunning 
stratagem, making the Copenhagen government believe that Great 
Britain had taken a step hostile to that government. There was 
no truth in this, but it succeeded in inducing Denmark to remain 
defiant. As a consequence, on the 1st of February 1864, the 
combined forces of Prussia and Austria crossed the Eider and 
invaded the province. 

It was a movement to regain to Germany a section held to be 
non-Danish in population and retained by Denmark against the 
traditions and the will of its people. Austria, which did not wish 
to appear less German than Prussia, though the matter did not 
directly appeal to that country, joined in the movement, being 
drawn into it by Bismarck's shrewd policy. 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 253 

It was not the original intention to go beyond the borders 
of the duchies and invade Denmark, but when Christian IX tried 
to resist the invasion this was done. The Danewerk and the 
Schlei were forced, and the Danish army was defeated at Flens- 
burg and driven back into Dueppel, which was taken by assault. 
A conference of the great Powers, opened at London (April 25th 
to June 25th), brought about no result. Napoleon III did not 
refuse to act, but he wanted as a condition that England would 
promise him something more than its moral support, which it 
refused to do. Finally Jutland was invaded and conquered, and 
Von Moltke was already preparing for a landing in Fuenen when 
Christian IX gave up all the duchies by the Vienna preliminaries 
(August 1st), confirmed by treaty on October 30th following. 

CONQUEST OF THE DUCHIES 

The fate of the conquest remained to be decided upon. Bis- 
marck settled it, after a pretence of investigation, by concluding 
that the rights of King Christian over the duchies were far superior 
to those of the Duke of Augustenburg, who had a hereditary claim, 
and that as Prussia and Austria had won them from the king by 
conquest, they had become the lawful owners. An agreement 
was made in which Holstein was assigned to Austria and Schleswig 
to Prussia, and for the time the question seemed settled. 

Bismarck's wider views 

This was far from being the case. Bismarck held views of 
far more expanded scope. He wanted to exclude Austria from 
the German confederation, and to do so desired war with that 
country as the only practical means of gaining his ends. In 1865 
he made the significant remark that a single battle in Bohemia 
would decide everything and that Prussia would win that battle. 
A remark like this was indicative of the purpose entertained and 
the events soon to follow. 

In such a war, however, it was important to secure the 



254 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

neutrality of France. The alert Prussian statesman had already 
assured himself of that of Russia. To gain France to his side he 
held an interview with Napoleon 111 at Biarritz in October, 1865. 
The cunning diplomat offered the emperor an alliance with a view 
to the extension of Prussia and Italy, by means of which France 
would take Belgimn. Napoleon saw very clearly that the offer 
was chimerical, but he believed that Prussia if fighting alone 
would be rapidly crushed, and that the alliance of Italy would aid 
him in protracting the war, thus enabling him to intervene as a 
peacemaker and to impose a vast rearrangement of territory, the 
most essential provision of which would be the exchange of Venetia 
for Silesia. Whatever Napoleon's views, Bismarck saw that he 
was safe from any interference on the part of France, and returned 
with the fixed design of driving Austria to the wall. 

WAR FORCED ON AUSTRIA 

He found the desired pretext in the Holstein question and the 
far more serious one of reforming the federal government. On 
January 24, 1866, he reproached the Austrian government with 
favoring in Holstein the pretensions of the Duke of Augustenburg. 
The grievance soon became envenomed by complaints and ulterior 
measures. In April Bismarck denounced the so-called offensive 
measures which Austria was taking in Bohemia and which, in short, 
were only precautionary. Yet at the same time he himself was 
signing with Italy a treaty, concluded for three months, by virtue 
of which Victor Emmanuel was to declare war against Austria 
as soon as Prussia itself had done so. 

Bismarck, now invited to lay the Austrian-Prussian dispute 
before the diet, answered by asking that an assembly elected by 
universal suffrage be called to discuss the question of federal 
reform. And when Austria offered to disarm in Bohemia if Prussia 
would do so on its part, Bismarck demanded, in addition, dis- 
armament in Venetia, a condition he knew to be unacceptable. 
On May 7, 1866, he declared he would not accept the diet's inter- 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 255 

vention in the duchies question, and on the 8th ordered the mobili- 
zation of the Prussian anny. 

Napoleon III at this juncture proposed the holding of a con- 
gress for settling the duchies question and that of federal reform. 
Thiers had warned him in vain, in an admirable speech delivered 
on May 3d, that France had everything to lose by aiding in 
bringing about the unity of Germany. The emperor obstinately 
persisted, proposing to tear up those treaties of 1815 which, two 
years before, he had childishly declared to be no longer in existence. 
His proposition of a congress, however, failed through the refusal 
of Austria and the petty states to take part in it. He next signed 
with Austria a secret treaty by which the latter promised to cede 
Venetia after its first victory and on condition of being indemni- 
fied at Prussia's expense. By a strange inconsistency the French 
emperor proposed at the same time to make Prussia more homo- 
geneous in the north. 

Bismarck acted in a far clearer manner than the French emperor. 
On June 5th, General von Gablenz, the Austrian governor of Hoi- 
stein, convened the states of that country, Austria declaring that 
the object of this measure was to enable the federal diet to settle 
the question. A Gennan force under General Manteuffel at once 
invaded the duchy and, having far superior forces at his disposal, 
took possession of it. On the 10th, Prussia asked the different 
German States to accept a new constitution based on the exclu- 
sion of Austria, the election of a parliament by universal suffrage, 
the creation of a strong federal power and a common army. The 
diet answered by voting the federal execution against Prussia. 
Thereupon the Prussian envoy, Savigny, withdrew, declaring that 
his sovereign ceased to recognize the Confederation. 

Events proved how correctly Bismarck had judged in his 
confidence in Prussia's military strength. The Prussian forces 
amounted to 330,000 men, who were to be aided in the south by 
240,000 Italians. Austria had 335,000 troops and its German 
allies 148,000. Generally the last named had little zeal. 



256 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

The Austrian government acted slowly, while its adversary 
vigorously assumed the offensive. On June 16th, after an unavail- 
ing notice, the Prussian troops invaded Saxony and occupied it 
without resistance, the Saxon army withdrawing to Bohemia. 
The same was the case in Hesse, whose grand duke was taken pris- 
oner, while his army joined the Bavarians. Still less fortunate 
was the king of Hanover, who did not even save his army, which, 
also retreating towards the south, was surrounded and obliged to 
capitulate at Langensalza (June 29th). 

In the south the Prussian General Vogel von Falkenstein, who 
had but 57,000 men against over a 100,000, took advantage of the 
fact that his adversaries had separated into two masses, the one at 
Frankfort and the other at Meiningen, to beat them separately, 
the Bavarians at Kissingen (July 10th) and the Prince of Hesse, 
commanding the other army, at Aschaffenburg (July 14th). On 
the 16th the Prussians entered Frankfort, which they overwhelmed 
with requisitions and contributions. General Manteuffel, Falken- 
stein's successor, then drove the federal armies from the line of the 
Tauber, where they had united, back to Wurzburg. On the 
28th an armistice was concluded. 

THE WAR IN ITALY 

The Italians had been less successful. Archduke Albert, who 
commanded in Venetia, had only 70,000 men, but they were Croa- 
tian Slavs, that is, Austria's best troops. Confronting him, Victor 
Emmanuel commanded 124,000 men on the Chiese and Cialdini 
80,000 in the neighborhood of Ferrara. They proved unable to 
act together. Cialdini let himself be kept in check by a mere 
handful of troops, while the Austrian archduke attacked the Italian 
royal army at Custozza. Serious errors in tactics and panic in an 
Italian brigade, which fled before three platoons of lancers that had 
the audacity to charge it, gave victory to the Austrians. Cialdini 
had remained behind the Po. Garibaldi, who had undertaken, with 
36,000 men, to conquer the Trent region, defended by only 13,000 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 257 

regulars and 4,000 militia under General von Kuhn, found himself 
not only repulsed in every attack, but, had it not been for the 
evacuation of Venetia, his adversary would have pursued him on 
Italian territory. The important events which took place at sea 
have been described in the preceding chapter. 

AUSTRIA S SIGNAL DEFEAT OF SADOWA 

It was not on these events that the outcome of the war was to 
depend, but on the victory or defeat of the chief Austrian army. 
The forces of the two Powers on the Silesian and Saxon frontier 
were almost equal ; but the Austrian commander-in-chief, Benedek, 
brave and brilliant as a division leader, proved unequal to his present 
task. He dallied in Moravia until June 16th, while the Prussians 
entered Bohemia in two separate masses, one on each side of the 
Riesen Gebirge. Benedek wavered and blundered. He sent only 
60,000 men against 150,000 under Prince Frederick Charles, and 
they suffered four defeats in as many days (June 26-29th). At the 
same time he had made the same mistake in regard to the Prince 
Royal, who won in over half a dozen skirmishes. During the follow- 
ing night, June 29-30th, the second Prussian army reached the Elbe. 

Benedek's incapacity was now completely demonstrated. He 
telegraphed to the emperor no make peace at any cost, and retreated 
on Olmutz. Then he changed his mind and decided to fight, 
seeking to throw the blame for his own errors on his subordinates. 
The battle-field chosen by him was near the village of Sadowa, 
and here his army, though sadly demoralized, fought with much 
bravery. The Austrians, whom their general had notified of the 
imminent battle only in the middle of the night, had fortified 
the slopes and villages as best they could. At eight in the morning 
Frederick Charles began the attack by crossing the Bistritz. 
Benedek's center resisted, but the right and left wings lost ground. 
At half past eleven the Prussians were losing ground and seemed 
ready to retreat. At this critical moment the army of the Prince 
Royal appeared, coming from the north. 



258 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

The second and sixth Austrian corps, obliged to confront 
the new troops with a flank march under the fire of the Prussian 
artillery, could not hold out long, and about three o'clock the strong- 
est Austrian position was lost. It was necessary at any cost to 
regain it, but all efforts failed against their own intrenchments, 
defended by the captors with desperate energy. At half past four 
retreat became necessary. Half of the Austrian army escaped with- 
out much difficulty; but the rest, three army corps, driven towards 
the Elbe by the entire victorious army, would have been annihi- 
lated but for the devotedness of the cavalry and the artillerymen. 
These formed successive fire lines, and continuing to shoot until 
the muzzles of their guns were reached, saving the infantry from 
destruction through dint of dying at their posts. Despite this 
diversion it was a frightful rout, which cost the vanquished 40,000 
men and 187 pieces of artillery. The Prussians lost only 10,000 
deadend wounded. 

THE TREATY OF PRAGUE 

The Austrians tried to fall back on Vienna, but only three 
corps out of eight reached there, as the Prussian army by a rapid 
march had forced the others to seek refuge at Presburg. On 
July 18th the Prussian armies were concentrated on the Russbach. 
Archduke Albert, recalled from Italy, had taken command of 
the troops covering Vienna, but the internal condition of the 
empire, where Hungary was in agitation, was too disquieting for 
it to be possible, without aid, to continue the war. This aid Napo- 
leon III could and should have furnished. The French army had 
suffered from the expedition to Mexico. Yet it would have been 
possible to put a hundred thousand men on foot immediately, and, 
later on, Bismarck acknowledged that this would have sufficed to 
change the result. But Napoleon III was ill and swayed between 
opposing influences. Prince Napoleon, whom he heeded very 
much, was decidedly in favor of Prussia. Accordingly, no step 
was taken but an offer of mediation. Then he had the weakness, 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 259 

in spite of his minister, Drouyn de Lhuys, to consent to the annexa- 
tions which Prussia wished to bring about in northern Germany. 
He asked, however, that Austria lose only Venetia, but it was 
precisely Bismarck's will that had, and not without difficulty, 
persuaded King William that he must not, by territorial demands, 
compromise the alliance which he afterwards realized. 

On July 26th the peace preliminaries of Nikolsburg were signed. 
Austria paid a considerable indemnity, abandoned its former posi- 
sition in Germany, acknowledged the extension of Prussian authority 
to the line of the Main and the annexations which Prussia would 
deem it to its purpose to make. The three Danish duchies were 
likewise abandoned. It was stipulated only that the inhabitants 
of northern Schleswig should be consulted as to their wish to be 
restored or not to Denmark, which was never done. The definitive 
treaty was signed on August 25th at Prague. As for Italy, Francis 
Joseph had ceded Venetia to Napoleon III, who was to transmit 
it to Victor Emmanuel, but the Italians protested loudly against 
the idea of being satisfied with so little. They wanted in addi- 
tion at least the Trent country. "Have you, then," Bismarck 
said to them, "lost another battle to claim a province more?" 
On August 10th the preliminaries of peace were signed on that 
side. The final treaty, that of Vienna, was concluded on October 
3, 1866. 

GERMANY AFTER 1866. 

Prussia, now master of Germany, annexed Hanover, Hesse- 
Cassel, Nassau and the city of Frankfort, which increased its 
population by four and a half millions. The rest of the northern 
states as far as the Main were to form under its direction the 
Confederation of Northern Germany (proclaimed July 1, 1867), 
with a constitution exactly the same as that of the German empire 
of today. As for the southern states, they remained independent, 
but signed military agreements which connected them with Prussia. 
Napoleon III tried in vain to obtain a compensation for that 



260 THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

enormous increase of power. To the first overtures which he made 
to this end (he wanted the Palatinate) Bismarck answered with a 
flat refusal and a threat of war. He added, however, that he 
would consent to an enlargement of France from Belgium, a pro- 
ject which he was afterwards careful to mention as coming from 
the Paris cabinet. 

Bismarck had succeeded in humbling Austria and reducing 
its importance among the great Powers of Europe, and had expanded 
Prussia alike on the north and south and made it decisively the 
ruling nation in Central Europe. As we have seen, it had con- 
cluded military agreements with the states of southern Germany. 
It held them also in another manner, namely, by means of the 
Zollverein, signed anew on June 4, 1867. But it was as yet far 
from having brought about a peaceful realization of unity. The 
southern states, not merely the sovereigns only, but the peoples 
as well, had always shown little taste for Prussian leadership, and 
after 1866 this feeling was very visible. It was for that reason 
that Bismarck had need of a war against France to strengthen 
his position. Union against the foreigner was the cement with 
which he hoped to complete political unity. Such a war came 
near breaking out in 1867 in relation to Luxembourg. Napoleon 
III keenly desired to have at least that country as compensation for 
Prussia's aggrandizements, and the king of Holland was disposed 
to cede his rights for a consideration. But Bismarck, after having 
secretly approved of the bargain, officially declared his opposition 
to it. Napoleon, hampered at one and the same time by the Paris 
Exposition of that year and by the bad condition of his army, 
was too happy to escape from embarrassment, since it was evident 
that the Prussians were not willing to evacuate the fortress of 
Luxembourg, by obtaining with the aid of the other Powers that 
the little duchy be declared neutral and the walls of its capital 
destroyed. 

In spite of this arrangement, it remained certain to everybody 
that a conflict would break out in a short time between France 



•f,l. 





."£ V 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 261 

and Prussia. We have seen what reasons Bismarck had for the 
methods pursued by him and those projected. Napoleon Ill's 
government, justly censured by opinion for the weakness which 
it had shown in 1866 and constantly losing its authority, was 
destined to fall into the first trap its adversary would set for it. 
What this trap was and the momentous events to which it led will 
be described in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER XVII 

The Franco-Prussian War 
Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic 

Causes of Hostile Relations — Discontent in France — War wth Prussia Declared — 
Self-deception of the French — First Meeting of the Armies — The Stronghold of Metz — 
Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte — Napoleon III at Sedan — The Emperor a Captive; 
France a Republic — Bismarck Refuses Intervention — Fall of the Fortresses — Gambetta 
in Command — Defiant Spirit of the French — The Struggle Continued — Operations 
Before Paris — Fighting in the South — The War at an End. 

IN 1866 the war between the two great powers of Germany, in 
which most of the smaller powers were concerned, led to more 
decided measures, in the absorption by Prussia of the weaker 
states, the formation of a North German League among the 
remaining states of the north, and the offensive and defensive 
alliance with Prussia of the south German states. By the treaty 
of peace with Austria, that power was excluded from the German 
League, and Prussia remained the dominant power in Germany. 
A constitution for the League was adopted in 1867, providing 
for a Diet, or legislative council of the League, elected by the 
direct votes of the people, and an army, which was to be under 
the command of the Prussian king and subject to the military 
laws of Prussia. Each state in the League bound itself to supply 
a specified sum for the support of the army. 

Here was a union with a backbone — an army and a budget — 
and Bismarck had done more in the five years of his ministry in 
forrning a united Germany than his predecessors had done in fifty 
years. But the idea of union and alliance between kindred states 
was then widely in the air. Such a union had been practically 
completed in Italy, and Hungary in 1867 regained her ancient 
rights, which had been taken from her in 1849, being given a 
separate government, with Francis Joseph, the emperor of Austria, 

(262) 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 263 

as its king. It was natural that the common blood of the Germans 
should lead them to a political confederation, and equally natural 
that Prussia, which so overshadowed the smaller states in strength, 
should be the leading element in the alliance. 

Yet, though Prussia had concluded military agreements with 
the states of southern Germany and held them also by means of 
the Zollverein, this was far from bringing about a peaceful realiza- 
tion of unity. The southern states, not merely the sovereigns only, 
but the peoples, have always had little taste for Prussian leader- 
ship, and after 1866 this feeling was very visible. For this reason 
Bismarck felt it important to instigate a war against France. 
Union against the foreigner was to complete political unity. This 
subject has been dealt with in the preceding chapter, and we need 
here merely to repeat that warlike sentiments were in the air in 
1867, in regard to the desire of Napoleon III to add to his empire 
the little duchy of Luxembourg and Bismarck's opposition to this 
desire. France was not then in a favorable condition for war, and 
the matter was finally settled by declaring Luxembourg a 
neutral state and ordering the walls around its capital to be 
destroyed. 

CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS 

In spite of this settlement, it remained certain to everybody 
that a conflict would break out in a short time between France 
and Prussia. We have seen what reasons Bismarck had for such 
a war. Napoleon Ill's government, justly censured by opinion 
for the weakness which it had shown in 1866, was eager to re- 
trieve the fault it had then committed. Yet the weakness of the 
administration continued and prevented it from adopting the indis- 
pensable military measures that it should have done. The 
enemies of power were declaiming against standing armies, which 
they declared useless. The government deputies were afraid to 
dissatisfy their constituents by aggravating the burdens of the 
service. Marshal Niel, minister of war, tried indeed to adopt 



264 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

measures with a view to the seemingly inevitable conflict. He 
caused to be elaborated a plan of campaign, a system of transpor- 
tation by railway, an arrangement for the chief places of the east 
to be armed with rifled cannon. But the Chamber grudged him 
the appropriations for the increase of the army, asking him if 
"he wished to make France a vast barracks." "Take care," 
he answered the opposition, "lest you make it a vast cemetery." 
Accordingly, when the mobile national guard had been created, 
made up of all the young men who had not been drawn by lot, 
organization was given to it only on paper, and it was never drilled. 
Lebceuf, who succeeded Niel in August, 1869, abandoned, more- 
over, most of his predecessor's plans. He even neglected to do 
anything towards carrying out on the eastern frontier any of the 
works of defense already recommended as urgent by the gen- 
erals of the Restoration. 

And thus time passed on until the eventful year 1870. By that 
year Prussia had completed its work among the North German 
states and was ready for the issue of hostilities, if this should be 
necessary. On the other hand, Napoleon, who had found his 
prestige in France from various causes decreasing, felt obliged in 
1870 to depart from his policy of personal rule and give that country 
a constitutional government. This proposal was submitted to a 
vote of the people and was sustained by an immense majority. 
He also took occasion to state that "peace was never more assured 
than at the present time." This assurance gave satisfaction to the 
world, yet it was a false one, for war was probably at that moment 
assured. 

DISCONTENT IN FEANCE 

There were alarming signs in France. The opposition to Napo- 
leonism was steadily gaining power. A bad harvest was threatened 
—a serious source of discontent. The parliament was discussing the 
reversal of the sentence of banishment against the Orleans family. 
These indications of a change in public sentiment appeared to call 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 265 

for some act that would aid in restoring the popularity of the 
emperor. And of all the acts that could be devised a national war 
seemed the most promising. If the Rhine frontier, which every 
Frenchman regarded as the natural boundary of the empire, could 
be regained by the arms of the nation, discontent and opposition 
would vanish, the name of Napoleon would win back its old prestige, 
and the reign of Bonapartism would be firmly established. 

Acts speak louder than words, and the acts of Napoleon were 
not in accord with his assurances of peace. Extensive military 
preparations began, and the forces of the empire were strengthened 
by land and sea, while great trust was placed in a new weapon, of 
murderous powers, called the mitrailleuse, the predecessor of the 
machine gun, and capable of discharging twenty-five balls at 
once. 

CAUSES OF HOSTILE RELATIONS 

On the other hand, there were abundant indications of dis- 
content in Germany, where a variety of parties inveighed against the 
rapacious policy of Prussia, and where Bismarck had sown a deep 
crop of hate. It was believed in France that the minor states would 
not support Prussia in a war. In Austria the defeat of 1866 rankled, 
and hostilities against Prussia on the part of France seemed certain 
to win sympathy and support in that composite empire. Colonel 
Stoffel, the French military envoy at Berlin, declared that Prussia 
would be found abundantly prepared for a struggle; but his warnings 
went unheeded in the French Cabinet, and the warlike preparations 
continued. 

Napoleon did not have to go far for an excuse for the war upon 
which he was resolved. One was prepared for him in that potent 
source of trouble, the succession to the throne of Spain. In that 
country there had for years been no end of trouble, revolts, Carlist 
risings, wars and rumors of wars. The government of Queen Isa- 
bella, with its endless intrigues, plots and alternation of despotism 
and anarchy, and the pronounced immorality of the queen, had 



266 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

become so distasteful to the people that finally, after several years 
of revolts and armed risings, she was driven from her throne by a 
revolution, and for a time Spain was without a monarch and was 
ruled on republican principles. 

But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory. The party 
in opposition looked around for a king, and negotiations began 
with a distant relative of the Prussian royal family, Leopold of 
Hohenzollern. Prince Leopold accepted the offer, and informed the 
king of Prussia of his decision. 

The news of this event caused great excitement in Paris, and 
the Prussian government was advised of the painful feeling to which 
the incident had given rise. The answer from Berlin that the 
Prussian government had no concern in the matter, and that Prince 
Leopold was free to act on his own account, did not allay the 
excitement. The demand for war grew violent and clamorous, the 
voices of the feeble opposition in the Chambers were drowned, 
and the journalists and war partisans were confident of a short 
and glorious campaign and a triumphant march to Berlin. 

The hostile feeling was reduced when King William of Prussia, 
though he declined to prohibit Prince Leopold from accepting the 
crown, expressed his concurrence with the decision of the prince 
when he withdrew his acceptance of the dangerous offer. This 
decision was regarded as sufficient, even in Paris; but it did not 
seem to be so in th© palace, where an excuse for a declaration of 
war was ardently desired. The emperor's purpose was en- 
hanced by the influence of the empress, and it was finally declared 
that the Prussian king had aggrieved France in permitting the prince 
to become a candidate for the throne without consulting the French 
Cabinet. 

WAK WITH PRUSSIA DECLARED 

Satisfaction for this shadowy source of offense was demanded, 
but King William firmly refused to say any more on the subject 
and declined to stand in the way of Prince Leopold if he should 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 267 

again accept the offer of the Spanish throne. This refusal was 
declared to be an offense to the honor and a threat to the safety 
of France. The war party was so strongly in the ascendant that all 
opposition was now looked upon as lack of patriotism, and on the 
15th of July the Prime Minister Ollivier announced that the reserves 
were to be called out and the necessary measures taken to secure 
the honor and security of France. When the declaration of war was 
hurled against Prussia the whole nation seemed in harmony with 
it and public opinion appeared for once to have become a unit 
throughout France. 

Rarely in the history of the world has so trivial a cause given 
rise to such stupendous military and political events as took place 
in France in a brief interval following this blind leap into hostilities. 
Instead of a triumphant march to Berlin and the dictation of peace 
from its palace, France was to find itself in two months' time with- 
out an emperor or an army, and in a few months more completely 
subdued and occupied by foreign troops, while Paris had been made 
the scene of a terrible siege and a frightful communistic riot, and 
a republic had succeeded the empire. It was such a series of events 
as have seldom been compressed within the short interval of half 
a year. 

In truth Napoleon and his advisers were blinded by their hopes 
to the true state of affairs. The army on which they depended, 
and which they assumed to be in a high state of efficiency and dis- 
cipline, was lacking in almost every requisite of an efficient force. 
The first Napoleon had been his own minister of war. The third Na- 
poleon, when told by his war minister that "not a single button was 
wanted on a single gaiter," took the words for the fact, and hurled 
an army without supplies and organization against the most thor- 
oughly organized army the world had ever known. That the French 
were as brave as the Germans goes without saying; they fought 
desperately, but from the first confusion reigned in their movements, 
while military science of the highest kind dominated those of the 
Germans. 



268 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

Napoleon was equally mistaken as to the state of affairs in 
Germany. The disunion upon which he counted vanished at the 
first threat of war. All Germany felt itself threatened and joined 
hands in defense. The declaration of war was received there with 
as deep an enthusiasm as in France and excited a fervent eagerness 
for the struggle. The new popular song, Die Wacht am Rhein 
("The Watch on the Rhine"), spread rapidly from end to end of the 
country, and indicated the resolution of the German people to 
defend to the death the frontier stream of their country. 

SELF-DECEPTION OF THE FRENCH 

The French looked for a parade march to Berlin, even fixing 
the day of their entrance into that city — August 15th, the emperor's 
birthday. On the contrary, they failed to set their foot on German 
territory, and soon found themselves engaged in a death struggle 
with the invaders of their own land. In truth, while the Prussian 
diplomacy was conducted by Bismarck, the ablest statesman 
Prussia had ever known, the movements of the army were directed 
by far the best tactician Europe then possessed, the famous Von 
Moltke, to whose strategy the rapid success of the war against 
Austria had been due. In the war with France Von Moltke, though 
too old to lead the armies in person, was virtually commander- 
in-chief, and arranged those masterly combinations which overthrew 
all the power of France in so remarkably brief a period. Under his 
directions, from the moment war was declared everything worked 
with clock-like precision. It was said that Von Moltke had only 
to touch a bell and all went forward. As it was, the Crown Prince 
Frederick fell upon the French while still unprepared, won the 
first battle, and steadily held the advantage to the end, the French 
being beaten by the strategy that kept the Germans in superior 
strength at all decisive points. 

But to return to the events of war. On July 23, 1870, the 
Emperor Napoleon, after making his wife Eugenie regent of France, 
set out with his son at the head of the army, full of high hopes of 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 269 

victory and triumph. By the end of July King William had also 
set out from Berlin to join the armies that were then in rapid motion 
towards the frontier. 

The emperor made his way to Metz, where was stationed his 
main army, about 200,000 strong, under Marshals Bazaine and 
Canrobert and General Bourbaki. Further east, under Marshal 
MacMahon, the hero of Magenta, was the southern army, of about 
100,000 men. A third army occupied the camp at Chalons, while 
a well-manned fleet set sail for the Baltic, to blockade the harbors 
and assail the coast of Germany. The German army was likewise 
in three divisions, the first, of 61,000 men, under General Steinmetz; 
the second, of 206,000 men, under Prince Frederick Charles; and 
the third, of 180,000 men, under the crown prince and General 
Blumenthal. The king, commander-in-chief of the whole, was 
in the center, and with him the general staff under the guidance of 
the alert Von Moltke. Bismarck and the minister of war Von 
Roon were also present, and so rapid was the movement of these 
great forces that in two weeks after the order to march was given 
300,000 armed Germans stood in rank along the Rhine. 

FIRST MEETING OF THE ARMIES 

The two armies first came together on August 2d, near Saar- 
briick, on the frontier line of the hostile kingdoms. It was the one 
success of the French, for the Prussians, after a fight in which both 
sides lost equally, retired in good order. This was proclaimed by 
the French papers as a brilliant victory, and filled the people with 
undue hopes of glory. It was the last favorable report, for they were 
quickly overwhelmed with tidings of defeat and disaster. 

Weissenburg, on the borders of Rhenish Bavaria, had been 
invested by a division of MacMahon's army. On August 4th the 
right whig of the army of the Crown Prince Frederick attacked 
and repulsed this investing force after a hot engagement, in which 
its leader, General Douay, was killed, and the loss on both sides 
was heavy. Two days later occurred a battle which decided the 



270 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

fate of the whole war, that of Worth-Reideshofen, where the army 
of the crown prince met that of MacMahon, and after a desperate 
struggle, which continued for fifteen hours, completely defeated 
him, with very heavy losses on both sides. MacMahon retreated 
in haste towards the army at Chalons, while the crown prince took 
possession of Alsace, and prepared for the reduction of the fortresses 
on the Rhine, from Strasburg to Belfort. On the same day as that 
of the battle of Worth, General Steinmetz stormed the heights of 
Spicheren, and, though at great loss of life, drove Frossard from those 
heights and back upon Metz. 

The occupation of Alsace was followed by that of Lorraine, by 
the Prussian army under King William, who took possession of 
Nancy and the country surrounding on August 11th. These two 
provinces had at one time belonged to Germany, and it was the aim 
of the Prussians to retain them as the chief anticipated prize of 
the war. Meanwhile the world looked on in amazement at the 
extraordinary rapidity of the German success, which, in two weeks 
after Napoleon left Paris, had brought his power to the verge of 
overthrow. 

THE STRONGHOLD OF METZ 

Towards the Moselle River and the strongly fortified town of 
Metz, 180 miles northeast of Paris, around which was concentrated 
the main French force, all the divisions of the German army now 
advanced, and on the 14th of August they gained a victory at 
Colombey-Nouilly which drove their opponents back from the 
open field towards the fortified city. 

It was Moltke's opinion that the French proposed to make their 
stand before this impregnable fortress, and fight there desperately 
for victory. But, rinding less resistance than he expected, he 
concluded, on the 15th, that Bazaine, in fear of being cooped up 
within the fortress, meant to march towards Verdun, there to join 
his forces with those of MacMahon and give battle to the Germans 
in the plain. 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 271 

The astute tactician at once determined to make every effort 
to prevent such a concentration of his opponents, and by the evening 
of the 15th a cavalry division had crossed the Moselle and reached 
the village of Mars-la-Tour, where it bivouacked for the night. 
It had seen troops in motion towards Metz, but did not know 
whether these formed the rear-guard of the French army or its van- 
guard in its march towards Verdun. 

In fact, Bazainejiad not yet got away with his army. All the 
roads from Metz were blocked with heavy baggage, and it was 
impossible to move so Targe an army with expedition. The time 
thus lost by Bazaine was diligently improved by Frederick Charles, 
and on the morning of the 16th the Brandenburg army corps, one 
of the best and bravest in the German army, had followed the 
cavalry and come within sight of the Verdun road. It was quickly 
perceived that a French force was before them, and some pre- 
liminary sldrmishing developed the enemy in such strength as to 
convince the leader of the corps that he had in his front the whole 
or the greater part of Bazaine's army, and that its escape from Metz 
had not been achieved. 

They were desperate odds with which the brave Brandenburgers 
had to contend, but they had been sent to hold the French until 
reinforcements could arrive, and they were determined to resist 
to the death. For nearly six hours they resisted, with unsurpassed 
courage, the fierce onslaughts of the French, though at a cost of 
life that perilously depleted the gallant corps. Then, about four 
o'clock in the afternoon, Prince Frederick Charles came up with 
reinforcements to their support and the desperate contest became 
more even. 

MARS-LA-TOUR AND GRAVELOTTE 

Gradually fortune decided in favor of the Germans, and by 
the time night had come they were practically victorious, the field 
of Mars-la-Tour, after the day's struggle, remaining in their hands. 
But they were utterly exhausted, their horses were worn out, and 



272 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

most of their ammunition was spent, and though their impetuous 
commander forced them to a new attack, it led to a useless loss of 
life, for their powers of fighting were gone. They had achieved 
their purpose, that of preventing the escape of Bazaine, though at 
a fearful loss, amounting to about 16,000 men on each side. "The 
battle of Vionville [Mars-la-Tour] is without a parallel in military 
history," said Emperor William, "seeing that a single army corps, 
about 20,000 men strong, hung on to and repulsed an enemy more 
than five times as numerous and well equipped. Such was the glo- 
rious deed done by the Brandenburgers, and the. Hohenzollerns will 
never forget the debt they owe to their devotion." 

Two days afterwards (August 16th), at Gravelotte, a village 
somewhat nearer to Metz, the armies, somewhat recovered from the 
terrible struggle of the 14th, met again, the whole German army 
being now brought up, so that over 200,000 men faced the 140,000 
of the French. It was the great battle of the war. For four hours 
the two armies stood fighting face to face, without any special 
result, neither being able to drive back the other. The French 
held their ground and died. The Prussians dashed upon them and 
died. Only late in the evening was the right wing of the French 
army broken, and the victory, which at five o'clock remained uncer- 
tain, was decided in favor of the Germans. More than 40,000 men 
lay dead and wounded upon the field, the terrible harvest of those 
nine hours of conflict. That night Bazaine withdrew his army 
behind the fortifications at Metz. His effort to join MacMahon 
had ended in failure. 

It was the fixed purpose of the Prussians to detain him in 
that stronghold, and thus render practically useless to France 
its largest army. A siege was to be prosecuted, and an army of 
150,000 men was extended around the town. The fortifications 
were far too strong to be taken by assault, and all depended on 
a close blockade. On August 31st Bazaine made an effort to 
break through the German lines, but was repulsed. It became now 
a question of how long the provisions of the French would hold out. 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 273 

NAPOLEON III AT SEDAN 

The French emperor, who had been with Bazaine, had left 
his army before the battle of Mars-la-Tour, and was now with 
MacMahon at Chalons. Here lay an army of 125,000 infantry 
and 12,000 cavalry. On it the Germans were advancing, in doubt 
as to what movement it would make, whether back towards Paris 
or towards Metz for the relief of Bazaine. They sought to place 
themselves in a position to check either. The latter movement 
was determined on by the French, but was carried out in a dubious 
and uncertain manner, the time lost giving abundant opportunity 
to the Germans to learn what was afoot and to prepare to prevent 
it. As soon as they were aware of MacMahon's intention of pro- 
ceeding to Metz they made speedy preparations to prevent his 
relieving Bazaine. By the last days of August the army of the 
crown prince had reached the right bank of the Aisne, and the 
fourth division gained possession of the line of the Meuse. On 
August 30th the French under General de Failly were attacked 
by the Germans at Beaumont and put to flight with heavy loss. 
It was evident that the hope of reaching Metz was at an end, 
and MacMahon, abandoning the attempt, concentrated his army 
around the frontier fortress of Sedan. 

This old town stands on the right bank of the Meuse, in an 
angle of territory between Luxembourg and Belgium, and is sur- 
rounded by meadows, gardens, ravines, ditches and cultivated 
fields; the castle rising on a cliff-like eminence to the southwest 
of the place. MacMahon had stopped here to give his weary men 
a rest, not to fight, but Von Moltke decided, on observing the 
situation, that Sedan should be the grave-yard of the French army. 
"The trap is now closed, and the mouse in it," he said, with a 
chuckle of satisfaction. 

Such proved to be the case. On September 1st the Bavarians 
won the village of Bazeille, after hours of bloody and desperate 
struggle. During this severe fight Marshal MacMahon was so 
seriously wounded that he was obliged to surrender the chief com- 

18 



274 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

mand, first to Ducrot, and then to General Wimpffen, a man of 
recognized bravery and cold calculation. 

Fortune soon showed itself in favor of the Germans. To 
the northwest of the town, the North German troops invested the 
exits from St. Meuges and Fleigneux, and directed a fearful fire 
of artillery against the French forces, which, before noon, were 
so hemmed in the valley that only two insufficient outlets to the 
south and north remained open. But General Wimpffen hesitated 
to seize either of these routes, the open way to Illy was soon closed 
by the Prussian guard corps, and a murderous fire was now directed 
from all sides upon the French, so that, after a last energetic 
struggle, they gave up all attempts to force a passage, and in 
the afternoon beat a retreat towards Sedan. In this small town 
the whole army of MacMahon was collected by evening, and there 
prevailed in the streets and houses an unprecedented disorder and 
confusion, which was still further increased when the German 
troops from the surrounding heights began to shoot down upon 
the fortress, and the town took fire in several places. 

SURRENDER OF NAPOLEON'S ARMY 

That an end might be put to the prevailing misery, Napoleon 
now commanded General Wimpffen to capitulate. The flag of 
truce already waved on the gates of Sedan when Colonel Bronsart 
appeared, and in the name of the king of Prussia demanded the 
surrender of the army and fortress. He soon returned to head- 
quarters, accompanied by the French General Reille, who pre- 
sented to the king a written message from Napoleon : "As I may 
not die in the midst of my army, I lay my sword in the hands of 
your majesty." King William accepted it with an expression of 
sympathy for the hard fate of the emperor and of the French 
army which had fought so bravely under his own eyes. The con- 
clusion of the treaty of capitulation was placed in the hands of 
Wimpffen, who, accompanied by General Castelnau, set out for 
Donchery to negotiate with Moltke and Bismarck. No attempts, 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 275 

however, availed to move Moltke from his stipulation for the sur- 
render of the whole army at discretion; he granted a short respite, 
but if this expired without surrender, the bombardment of the 
town was to begin anew. 

At six o'clock in the morning the capitulation was signed 
and was ratified by the king at his headquarters at Vendresse (2d 
September). Thus the world beheld the incredible spectacle of 
an army of 83,000 men surrendering themselves and their weapons 
to the victor, and being carried off as prisoners of war to Germany. 
Only the officers who gave their written word of honor to take 
no further part in the present war with Germany were permitted 
to retain their arms and personal property. Probably the assur- 
ance of Napoleon, that he had sought death on the battle-field but 
had not found it, was literally true; at any rate, the fate of the 
unhappy man, bowed down as he was both by physical and mental 
suffering, was so solemn and tragic that there was no room for 
hypocrisy, and that he had exposed himself to personal danger 
was admitted on all sides. Accompanied by Count Bismarck, he 
stopped at a small and mean-looking laborer's inn on the road to 
Donchery, where, sitting down on a stone seat before the door, 
with Count Bismarck, he declared that he had not desired the war, 
but had been driven to it through the force of public opinion; 
and afterwards the two proceeded to the little castle of Bellevue, 
near Frenois, to join King William and the crown prince. A 
telegram to Queen Augusta thus describes the interview: "What 
an impressive moment was the meeting with Napoleon! He was 
cast down, but dignified in his bearing. I have granted him 
Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, as his residence. Our meeting took 
place in a little castle before the western glacis of Sedan." 

THE EMPEROR A CAPTIVE; FRANCE A REPUBLIC 

The locking up of Bazaine in Metz and the capture of Mac- 
Mahon's army at Sedan were events fatal to France. The struggle 
continued for months, but it was a fight against hope. The subse- 



276 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

quent events of the war consisted of a double siege, that of Metz 
and that of Paris, with various minor sieges, and a desperate but 
hopeless effort of France in the field. As for the empire of Napo- 
leon III, it was at an end. The tidings of the terrible catastrophe 
at Sedan filled the people with a fury that soon became revolution- 
ary. While Jules Favre, the republican deputy, was offering a 
motion in the Assembly that the emperor had forfeited the crown, 
and that a provisional government should be established, the 
people were thronging the streets of Paris with cries of " Deposi- 
tion! Republic!" On the 4th of September the Assembly had 
its final meeting. Two of its prominent members, Jules Favre 
and Gambetta, sustained the motion for deposition of the emperor, 
and it was carried after a stormy session. They then made their 
way to the senate-chamber, where, before a thronging audience, 
they proclaimed a republic and named a government for the national 
defense. At its head was General Trochu, military commandant 
at Paris. Favre was made minister of foreign affairs; Gambetta, 
minister of the interior; and other prominent members of the 
Assembly filled the remaining cabinet posts. The legislature was 
dissolved, the Palais de Bourbon was closed, and the Empress 
Eugenie quitted the Tuileries and made her escape with a few 
attendants to Belgium, whence she sought a refuge in England. 
Prince Louis Napoleon made his way to Italy, and the swarm of 
courtiers scattered in all directions; some faithful followers of 
the deposed monarch seeking the castle of Wilhelmshohe, where 
the unhappy Louis Napoleon occupied as a prison the same beauti- 
ful palace and park in which his uncle Jerome Bonaparte had 
once passed six years in a life of pleasure. The second French 
Empire was at an end; the third French Republic had begun — 
one that had to pass through many changes and escape many dan- 
gers before it would be firmly established. 

"Not a foot's breadth of our country nor a stone of our for- 
tresses shall be surrendered," was Jules Favre's defiant proclama- 
tion to the invaders, and the remainder of the soldiers in the 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 277 

field were collected in Paris, and strengthened with all available 
reinforcements. Every person capable of bearing arms was enrolled 
in the national army, which soon numbered 400,000 men. There 
was need of haste, for the victors at Sedan were already marching 
upon the capital, inspired with high hopes from their previous 
astonishing success. They knew that Paris was strongly fortified, 
being encircled by powerful lines of defense, but they trusted that 
hunger would soon bring its garrison to terms. The same result 
was looked for at Metz, and at Strasbourg, which was also besieged. 

Thus began at three main points and several minor ones a 
military siege the difficulties, dangers, and hardships of which 
surpassed even those of the winter campaign in the Crimea. 
Exposed at the fore-posts to the enemy's balls, chained to arduous 
labor in the trenches and redoubts, and suffering from the effects 
of bad weather, and insufficient food and clothing, the German 
soldiers were compelled to undergo great privations and sufferings 
before the fortifications; while many fell in the frequent skirmishes 
and sallies, many succumbed to typhus and epidemic disease. 

No less painful and distressing was the condition of the be- 
sieged. While the garrison soldiers on guard were constantly 
compelled to face death in nocturnal sallies, or led a pitiable 
existence in damp huts, having inevitable surrender constantly 
before their eyes, and disarmament and imprisonment as the 
reward of all their struggles and exertions, the citizens in the towns, 
the women and children, were in constant danger of being shivered 
to atoms by the fearful shells, or of being buried under falling walls 
and roofs; and the poorer part of the population saw with dismay 
the gradual diminution of the necessaries of life, and were often 
compelled to pacify their hunger with the flesh of horses, and dis- 
gusting and unwholesome food. 

BISMARCK REFUSES INTERVENTION 

The republican government possessed only a usurped power, 
and none but a freely elected national assembly could decide as 



278 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

to the fate of the French nation. Such an assembly was there- 
fore summoned for the 16th of October. Three members of the 
government — Cremieux, Fourichon, and Glais-Bizoin — were des- 
patched before the entire blockade of the city had been effected, 
to Tours, to maintain communication with the provinces. An 
attempt was also made at the same time to induce the great Powers 
which had not taken part in the war to organize an intervention, 
as hitherto only America, Switzerland and Spain had sent official 
recognition. For this important and delicate mission the old 
statesman and historian Thiers was selected, and, in spite of his 
three-and-seventy years, immediately set out on the journey to 
London, St. Petersburg, Vienna and Florence. Count Bismarck, 
however, in the name of Prussia, refused any intervention in 
internal affairs. In two despatches to the ambassadors of foreign 
courts, the chancellor declared that the war, begun by the Emperor 
Napoleon, had been approved by the representatives of the nation, 
and that thus all France was answerable for the result. Germany 
was obliged, therefore, to demand guarantees which should secure 
her in future against attack, or, at any rate, render attack more 
difficult. Thus a cession of territory on the part of France was 
laid down as the basis of a treaty of peace. The neutral powers 
were also led to the belief that if they fostered in the French any 
hope of intervention, peace would only be delayed. The mission 
of Thiers, therefore, yielded no useful result, while the direct 
negotiation which Jules Favre conducted with Bismarck proved 
equally unavailing. 

FALL OF THE FORTRESSES 

Soon the beleaguered fortresses began to fall. On the 23d of 
September the ancient town of Toul, in Lorraine, was forced to 
capitulate, after a fearful bombardment; and on the 27th Stras- 
bourg, in danger of the terrible results of a storming, after the havoc 
of a dreadful artillery fire, hoisted the white flag, and surrendered 
on the following day. The supposed impregnable fortress of Metz 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 279 

held out little longer. Hunger did what cannon were incapable 
of doing. The successive sallies made by Bazaine proved unavail- 
ing, though, on October 7th, his soldiers fought with desperate 
energy, and for hours the air was full of the roar of cannon and 
mitrailleuse and the rattle of musketry. But the Germans with- 
stood the attack unmoved, and the French were forced to with- 
draw into the town. 

Bazaine then sought to negotiate with the German leaders 
at Versailles, offering to take no part in the war for three months 
if permitted to withdraw. But Bismarck and Moltke would listen 
to no terms other than unconditional surrender, and these terms 
were finally accepted, the besieged army having reached the brink 
of starvation. It was with horror and despair that France learned, 
on the 30th of October, that the citadel of Metz, with its fortifi- 
cations and arms of defense, had been yielded to the Germans, 
and its army of more than 150,000 men had surrendered as pris- 
oners of war. 

This hasty surrender at Metz, a still greater disaster to France 
than that of Sedan, was not emulated at Paris, which for four 
months held out against all the efforts of the Germans. On the 
investment of the great city, King William removed his head- 
quarters to the historic palace of Versailles, setting up his homely 
camp-bed in the same apartments from which Louis XIV had 
once issued his despotic edicts and commands. Here Count Bis- 
marck conducted his diplomatic labors and Moltke issued his 
directions for the siege, which, protracted from week to week and 
month to month, gradually transformed the beautiful neighbor- 
hood, with its prosperous villages, superb country houses, and 
enchanting parks and gardens, into a scene of sadness and 
desolation. 

PARIS 18 BESIEGED 

In spite of the vigorous efforts made by the commander-in- 
chief Trochu, both by continuous firing from the forts and by 



280 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

repeated sallies, to prevent Paris from being surrounded, and to 
force a way through the trenches, his enterprises were rendered 
fruitless by the watchfulness and strength of the Germans. The 
blockade was completely accomplished; Paris was surrounded 
and cut off from the outer world; even the underground telegraphs, 
through which communication was for a time secretly maintained 
with the provinces, were by degrees discovered and destroyed. 
But to the great astonishment of Europe, which looked on with 
keenly pitched excitement at the mighty struggle, the siege con- 
tinued for months without any special progress being observable 
from without or any lessening of resistance from within. On 
account of the extension of the forts, the Germans were compelled 
to remain at such a distance that a bombardment of the town at 
first appeared impossible; a storming of the outer works would, 
moreover, be attended with such sacrifices that the humane tem- 
per of the long revolted from such a proceeding. The guns of 
greater force and carrying power which were needed from Ger- 
many, could only be procured after long delay on account of the 
broken lines of railway. Probably also there was some hesitation 
on the German side to expose the beautiful city, regarded by so 
many as the " metropolis of civilization," to the risk of a bom- 
bardment, in which works of art, science, and a historical past 
would meet destruction. Nevertheless, the declamations of the 
French at the vandalism of the northern barbarians met with 
assent and sympathy from most of the foreign Powers. 

Determination and courage falsified the calculations at Ver- 
sailles of a quick cessation of the resistance. The republic offered 
a far more energetic and determined opposition to the Prussian 
arms than the empire had done. The government of the national 
defense still declaimed with stern reiteration: "Not a foot's 
breadth of our country; not a stone of our fortresses!" and posi- 
tively rejected all proposals of treaty based on territorial conces- 
sions. Faith in the invincibility of the republic was rooted as an 
indisputable dogma in the hearts of the French people. The 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 281 

victories and the commanding position of France from 1792 to 
1799 were regarded as so entirely the necessary result of the 
Revolution, that a conviction prevailed that the formation of a 
republic, with a national army for its defense, would have an 
especial effect on the rest of Europe. Therefore, instead of sum- 
moning a constituent Assembly, which, in the opinion of Prussia 
and the other foreign Powers, would alone be capable of offering 
security for a lasting peace, it was decided to continue the revo- 
lutionary movements, and to follow the same course which, in the 
years 1792 and 1793, had saved France from the coalition of the 
European Powers. It was held that a revolutionary dictatorship 
such as had once been exercised by the Convention and the mem- 
bers of the Committee of Public Safety, must again be revived, 
and a youthful and hot-blooded leader was alone needed to stir 
up popular feeling and set it in motion. 

To fill such a part no one was better adapted than the advo- 
cate Gambetta, who emulated the career of the leaders of the 
Revolution, and whose soul glowed with a passionate ardor of 
patriotism. In order to create for himself a free sphere of action, 
and to initiate some vigorous measure in place of the well-rounded 
phrases and eloquent proclamations of his colleagues Trochu and 
Jules Favre, he quitted the capital in an air-balloon and entered 
into communication with the Government delegation at Tours, 
which through him soon obtained a fresh impetus. His next most 
important task was the liberation of the capital from the besieg- 
ing German army, and the expulsion of the enemy from the 
"sacred" soil of France. For this purpose he summoned, with 
the authority of a minister of war, all persons capable of bearing 
arms up to forty years of age to take active service, and despatched 
them into the field; he imposed war-taxes, and terrified the tardy 
and refractory with threats of punishment. Every force was put 
in motion; all France was transformed into a great camp. 

t A popular war was now to take the place of a soldiers' war, 
and what the soldiers had failed to effect must be accomplished 



282 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

by the people; France must be saved, and the world freed from 
despotism. To promote this object, the whole of France, with 
the exception of Paris, was divided into four general governments, 
the headquarters of the different governors being Lille, Le Mans, 
Bourges, and Besangon. Two armies, from the Loire and from 
the Somme, were to march simultaneously towards Paris, and, 
aided by the sallies of Trochu and his troops, were to drive the 
enemy from the country. Energetic attacks were now attempted 
from time to time, in the hope that when the armies of relief arrived 
from the provinces, it might be possible to effect a coalition; but 
all these efforts were constantly repulsed after a hot struggle by 
the besieging German troops. At the same time, during the 
month of October, the territory between the Oise and the Lower 
Seine was scoured by reconnoitering troops, under Prince Albrecht, 
the southeast district was protected by a Wurtemberg detachment 
through the successful battle near Nogent on the Seine, while a 
division of the third army advanced towards the south accom- 
panied by two cavalry divisions. A more unfortunate circum- 
stance, however, for the Parisians was the cutting off of all com- 
munication with the outer world, for the Germans had destroyed 
the telegraphs. But even this obstacle was overcome by the 
inventive genius of the French. By means of pigeon letter-carriers 
and air-balloons, they were always able to maintain a partial 
though one-sided and imperfect communication with the prov- 
inces, and the aerostatic art was developed and brought to per- 
fection on this occasion in a manner which had never before been 
considered possible. 

DEFIANT SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH 

The whole of France, and especially the capital, was already 
in a state of intense excitement when the news of the capitulation 
of Metz came to add fresh fuel to the flame. Outside the walls 
Gambetta was using heroic efforts to increase his forces, bringing 
Bedouin horsemen from Africa and inducing the stern old revo- 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 283 

lutionist Garibaldi to come to his aid; and Thiers was opening 
fresh negotiations for a truce. Inside the walls the Red Republic 
raised the banners of insurrection and attempted to drive the 
government of national defense from power. 

This effort of the dregs of revolution to inaugurate a reign of 
terror failed, and the provisional government felt so elated with 
its victory that it determined to continue at the head of affairs 
and to oppose the calling of a chamber of national representatives. 
The members proclaimed oblivion for what had passed, broke off 
the negotiations for a truce begun by Thiers, and demanded a 
vote of confidence. The indomitable spirit shown by the French 
people did not, on the other hand, inspire the Germans with a 
very lenient or conciliatory temper. Bismarck declared in a 
despatch the reasons why the negotiations had failed: "The 
incredible demand that we should surrender the fruits of all our 
efforts during the last two months, and should go back to the 
conditions which existed at the beginning of the blockade of Paris, 
only affords fresh proof that in Paris pretexts are sought for refusing 
the nation the right of election." Thiers mournfully declared the 
failure of his undertaking, but in Paris the popular voting resulted 
in a ten-fold majority in favor of the government and the policy 
of postponement. 

After the breaking off of the negotiations, the world antici- 
pated some energetic action towards the besieged city. The efforts 
of the enemy were, however, principally directed to drawing the 
iron girdle still tighter, enclosing the giant city more and more 
closely, and cutting off every means of communication, so that at 
last a surrender might be brought about by the stern necessity of 
starvation. That this object would not be accomplished as 
speedily as at Metz, that the city of pleasure, enjoyment, and 
luxury would withstand a siege of four months, had never been 
contemplated for a moment. It is true that, as time went on, all 
fresh meat disappeared from the market, with the exception of 
horse-flesh ; that white bread, on which Parisians place such value, 



284 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

was replaced by a baked compound of meal and bran; that the 
stores of dried and salted food began to decline, until at last rats, 
dogs, cats, and even animals from the zoological gardens were 
prepared for consumption at restaurants. 

Yet, to the amazement of the world, all these miseries, hard- 
ships, and sufferings were courageously borne, nocturnal watch 
was kept, sallies were undertaken, and cold, hunger, and wretched- 
ness of all kinds were endured with an indomitable steadfastness 
and heroism. The courage of the besieged Parisians was also 
animated by the hope that the military forces in the provinces 
would hasten to the aid of the hard-pressed capital, and that 
therefore an energetic resistance would afford the rest of France 
sufficient time for rallying all its forces, and at the same time 
exhibit an elevating example. In the carrying out of this plan, 
neither Trochu nor Gambetta was wanting in the requisite energy 
and circumspection. The former organized sallies from time to 
time, in order to reconnoiter and discover whether the army of 
relief was on its way from the provinces; the latter exerted all his 
powers to bring the Loire army up to the Seine. But both erred 
in undervaluing the German war forces; they did not believe that 
the hostile army would be able to keep Paris in a state of blockade, 
and at the same time engage the armies on the south and north, 
east and west. They had no conception of the hidden, inexhaus- 
tible strength of the Prussian army organization — of a nation in 
arms which could send forth constant reinforcements of battalions 
and recruits, and fresh bodies of disciplined troops to fill the gaps 
left in the ranks by the wounded and fallen. There could be no 
doubt as to the termination of this terrible war, or the final victory 
of German energy and discipline. 

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUED 

Throughout the last months of the eventful year 1870, the 
northern part of France, from the Jura to the Channel, from the 
Belgian frontier to the Loire, presented the aspect of a wide battle- 



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THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 285 

field. Of the troops that had been set free by the capitulation of 
Metz, a part remained behind in garrison, another division 
marched northwards in order to invest the provinces of Picardy 
and Normandy, to restore communication with the sea, and to 
bar the road to Paris, and a third division joined the second army, 
whose commander-in-chief, Prince Frederick Charles, set up his 
headquarters at Troyes. Different detachments were despatched 
against the northern fortresses, and by degrees Soissons, Verdun, 
Thionville, Ham, where Napoleon had once been a prisoner, Pfalz- 
burg and Montmedy, all fell into the hands of the Prussians, thus 
opening to them a free road for the supplies of provisions. The 
garrison troops were all carried off as prisoners to Germany; the 
towns — most of them in a miserable condition — fell into the 
enemy's hands; many houses were mere heaps of ruins and ashes, 
and the larger part of the inhabitants were suffering severely from 
poverty, hunger and disease. 

The greatest obstacles were encountered in the northern part 
of Alsace and the mountainous districts of the Vosges and the 
Jura, where irregular warfare, under Garibaldi and other leaders, 
developed to a dangerous extent, while the fortress of Langres 
afforded a safe retreat to the guerilla bands. Lyons and the 
neighboring town of St. Etienne became hotbeds of excitement, the 
red flag being raised and a despotism of terror and violence estab- 
lished. Although many divergent elements made up this army of 
the east, all were united in hatred of the Germans. 

Thus, during the cold days of November and December, when 
General Von Treskow began the siege of the important fortress of 
Belfort, there burst forth a war around Gray and Dijon marked 
by the greatest hardships, perils and privations to the invaders. 
Here the Germans had to contend with an enemy much superior 
in number, and to defend themselves against continuous firing 
from houses, cellars, woods and thickets, while the impoverished 
soil yielded a miserable subsistence, and the broken railroads cut 
off freedom of communication and of reinforcement. 



286 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

The whole of the Jura district, intersected by hilly roads as 
far as the plateau of Langres, where, in the days of Caesar, the 
Romans and Gauls were wont to measure their strength with each 
other, formed during November and December the scene of action 
of numerous encounters which, in conjunction with sallies from the 
garrison at Belfort, inflicted severe injury on Werder's troops. 
Dijon had repeatedly to be evacuated; and the nocturnal attack 
at Chattillon, 20th November, by Garibaldians, when one hundred 
and twenty Landwehr men and Hussars perished miserably, and 
seventy horses were lost, affording a striking proof of the dangers 
to which the German army was exposed in this hostile country; 
although the revolutionary excesses of the turbulent population of 
the south diverted to a certain extent the attention of the National 
Guard, who were compelled to turn their weapons against an 
internal enemy. 

By means of the revolutionary dictatorship of Gambetta the 
whole French nation was drawn into the struggle, the annihilation 
of the enemy being represented as a national duty, and the war 
assuming a steadily more violent character. The indefatigable 
patriot continued his exertions to increase the army and unite the 
whole south and west against the enemy, hoping to bring the army 
of the Loire to such dimensions that it would be able to expel the 
invaders from the soil of France. But these raw recruits were 
poorly fitted to cope with the highly disciplined Germans, and their 
early successes were soon followed by defeat and discouragement, 
while the hopes entertained by the Paris garrison of succor from 
the south vanished as news of the steady progress of the Germans 
was received. 

OPEEATIONS BEFORE PARIS 

During these events the war operations before Paris continued 
uninterruptedly. Moltke had succeeded, in spite of the difficulties 
of transport, in procuring an immense quantity of ammunition, 
and the long-delayed bombardment of Paris was ready to begin. 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 287 

Having stationed with all secrecy twelve batteries with seventy- 
six guns around Mont Avron, on Christmas-day the firing was 
directed with such success against the fortified eminences, that 
even in the second night the French, after great losses, evacuated 
the important position, the "key of Paris," which was immediately 
taken possession of by the Saxons. Terror and dismay spread 
throughout the distracted city when the eastern forts, Rosny, 
Nogent and Noisy, were stormed amid a tremendous volley of 
firing. Vainly did Trochu endeavor to rouse the failing courage 
of the National Guard; vainly did he assert that the government 
of the national defense would never consent to the humiliation of 
a capitulation; his own authority had already waned; the news- 
papers already accused him of incapacity and treachery, and 
began to cast every aspersion on the men who had presumptuously 
seized the government, and yet were not in a position to effect the 
defense of the capital and the country. After the new year the 
bombardment of the southern forts began, and the terror in the 
city daily increased, though the violence of the radical journals 
kept in check any hint of surrender or negotiation. Yet in spite 
of fog and snow-storms the bombardment was systematically con- 
tinued, and with every day the destructive effect of the terrible 
missiles grew more pronounced. 

Trochu was blamed for having undertaken only small sallies, 
which could have no result. The commander-in-chief ventured 
no opposition to the party of action. With the consent of the 
mayors of the twenty arrondissements of Paris a council of war 
was held. The threatening famine, the firing of the enemy, and 
the excitement prevailing among the adherents of the red republic 
rendered a decisive step necessary. Consequently, on the 19th of 
January, a great sally was decided on, and the entire armed forces 
of the capital were summoned to arms. Early in the morning, a 
body of 100,000 men marched in the direction of Meudon, Sevres 
and St. Cloud for the decisive conflict. The left wing was com- 
manded by General Vinoy, the right by Ducrot, while Trochu 



288 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

from the watch-tower directed the entire struggle. With great 
courage Vinoy dashed forward with his column of attack towards 
the fifth army corps of General Kirchbach, and succeeded in 
capturing the Montretout entrenchment, through the superior 
number of his troops, and in holding it for a time. But when 
Ducrot, delayed by the barricades in the streets, failed to come 
to his assistance at the appointed time, the attack was driven 
back after seven hours' fierce fighting by the besieging troops. 
Having lost 7,000 dead and wounded, the French in the evening 
beat a retreat, which almost resembled a flight. On the following 
day Trochu demanded a truce, that the fallen National Guards, 
whose bodies strewed the battle-field, might be interred. The 
victors, too, had to render the last rites to many a brave soldier. 
Thirty-nine officers and six hundred and sixteen soldiers were given 
in the list of the slain. 

Entire confidence had been placed by the Parisians in the 
great sally. When the defeat, therefore, became known in its full 
significance, when the number of the fallen was found to be far 
greater even than had been stated in the first accounts, a dull 
despair took possession of the famished city, which next broke 
forth into violent abuse against Trochu, "the traitor." Capitula- 
tion now seemed imminent; but as the commander-in-chief had 
declared that he would never countenance such a disgrace, he 
resigned his post to Vinoy. Threatened by bombardment from 
without, terrified within by the pale specter of famine, paralyzed 
and distracted by the violent dissensions among the people, and 
without prospect of effective aid from the provinces, what 
remained to the proud capital but to desist from a conflict the 
continuation of which only increased the unspeakable misery, 
without the smallest hope of deliverance? Gradually, therefore, 
there grew up a resolution to enter into negotiations with the 
enemy; and it was the minister, Jules Favre, who had been fore- 
most with the cry of "no surrender" four months before, who was 
now compelled to take the first step to deliver his country from 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 289 

complete ruin. It was probably the bitterest hour in the life of 
the brave man, who loved France and liberty with such a sincere 
affection, when he was conducted through the German outposts to 
his interview with Bismarck at Versailles. He brought the pro- 
posal for a convention, on the strength of which the garrison was 
to be permitted to retire with military honors to a part of France 
not hitherto invested, on promising to abstain for several months 
from taking part in the struggle. But such conditions were posi- 
tively refused at the Prussian headquarters, and a surrender was 
demanded as at Sedan and Metz. Completely defeated, the 
minister returned to Paris. At a second meeting on the following 
day, it was agreed that from the 27th, at twelve o'clock at night, 
the firing on both sides should be discontinued. This was the 
preliminary to the conclusion of a three weeks' truce, to await the 
summons of a National Assembly, with which peace might be 
negotiated. 

FIGHTING IN THE SOUTH 

The war was at an end so far as Paris was concerned. But 
it continued in the south, where frequent defeat failed to depress 
Gambetta's indomitable energy, and where new troops constantly 
replaced those put to rout. Garibaldi, at Dijon, succeeded in 
doing what the French had not done during the war, in capturing 
a Prussian banner. But the progress of the Germans soon 
rendered his position untenable, and, finding his exertions unavail- 
ing, he resigned his command and retired to his island of Caprera. 
Two disasters completed the overthrow of France. Bourbaki's 
army, 85,000 strong, became shut in, with scanty food and ammu- 
nition, among the snow-covered valleys of the Jura, and to save 
the disgrace of capitulation it took refuge on the neutral soil of 
Switzerland; and the strong fortress of Belfort, which had been 
defended with the utmost courage against its besiegers, finally 
yielded, with the stipulation that the brave garrison should march 
out with the honors of war. Nothing now stood in the way of an 

19 



290 THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

extension of the truce. On the suggestion of Jules Favre, the 
National Assembly elected a commission of fifteen members, which 
was to aid the chief of the executive, and his ministers, Picard and 
Favre, in the negotiations for peace. That cessions of territory 
and indemnity of war expenses would have to be conceded had 
long been acknowledged in principle; but protracted and excited 
discussions took place as to the extent of the former and the 
amount of the latter, while the demanded entry of the German 
troops into Paris met with vehement opposition. But Count 
Bismarck resolutely insisted on the cession of Alsace and German 
Lorraine, including Metz and Diedenhofen. Only with difficulty 
were the Germans persuaded to separate Belfort from the rest of 
Lorraine, and leave it still in the possession of the French. In 
respect to the expenses of the war, the sum of five milliards of 
francs ($1,000,000,000) was agreed upon, of which the first milliard 
was to be paid in the year 1871, and the rest in a stated period. 
The stipulated entry into Paris also — so bitter to the French 
national pride — was only partially carried out; the western side 
only of the city was to be traversed in the march of the Prussian 
troops, and again evacuated in two days. On the basis of these 
conditions, the preliminaries of the Peace of Versailles were con- 
cluded on the 26th of February between the Imperial Chancellor 
and Jules Favre. Intense excitement prevailed when the terms of 
the treaty became known; they were dark days in the annals of 
French history. But in spite of the opposition of the extreme 
Republican party, led by Quinet and Victor Hugo, the Assembly 
recognized by an overpowering majority the necessity for the 
Peace, and the preliminaries were accepted by 546 to 107 votes. 
Thus ended the mighty war between France and Germany — a war 
which has had few equals in the history of the world. 

THE WAR AT AN END 

Had King William received no indemnity in cash or territory 
from France, he must still have felt himself amply repaid for the 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 291 

cost of the brief but sanguinary war, for it brought him a power 
and prestige with which the astute diplomatist Bismarck had long 
been seeking to invest his name. Political changes move slowly 
in times of peace, rapidly in times of war. The whole of Ger- 
many, with the exception of Austria, had sent troops to the con- 
quest of France, and every state, north and south alike, shared in 
the pride and glory of the result. South and North Germany 
had marched side by side to the battle-field, every difference of 
race or creed forgotten, and the honor of the German fatherland 
the sole watchword. The time seemed to have arrived to close 
the breach between north and south, and obliterate the line of the 
Main, which had divided the two sections. North Germany was 
united under the leadership of Prussia, and the honor in which 
all alike shared now brought South Germany into line for a 
similar union. 

The first appeal in this direction came from Baden. Later in 
the year plenipotentiaries sought Versailles from the kingdoms of 
Bavaria and Wurtemberg and the grand duchies of Baden and 
Hesse, their purpose being to arrange for and define the conditions 
of union between the South and the North German states. For 
weeks this momentous question filled all Germany with excite- 
ment and public opinion was in a state of high tension. The 
scheme of union was by no means universally approved, there 
being a large party in opposition, but the majority in its favor in 
Chambers proved sufficient to enable Bismarck to carry out 
his plan. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Bismarck and the New German Empire 

Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth-Century Nation 

Bismarck as a Statesman — Uniting the German States — William I Crowned at Versailles 

— A Significant Decade — The Problem of Church Power — Progress of Socialism — 

William II and the Resignation of Bismarck — Old Age Insurance — Political and 

Industrial Conditions in Germany. 

THROUGHOUT the various events narrated in the two 
preceding chapters the hand of Bismarck was everywhere 
visible. He had proved himself a statesman of the highest 
powers, and these powers were devoted without stint to the aggran- 
dizement of Prussia. As for the surrounding nations and their 
rights and immunities, these did not count as against his policies. 
Conscience did not trouble him. The slaughter of thousands of 
men on the battle-field did not disturb his equanimity. He was 
unalterably fixed in his purposes, unscrupulous in the means em- 
ployed, shrewd, keen and far-sighted in his measures, Europe 
being to him but a great chess-board, on which his hand moved 
kings, knights, and pawns with mechanical inflexibility. To him 
the end justified the means, however lacking in justice or mercy 
these means might prove. 

Denmark was despoiled to extend the territory of Prussia 
to the north. Austria, Bismarck's unwary accomplice in this act 
of spoliation, was robbed of its share of the spoils, and drawn into 
a war in which it met with disastrous defeat, the prestige of Prussia 
being vastly increased on the field of Sadowa. Subsequently came 
the great struggle with France, fomented by his wiles and ending 
in triumph for his policies. So far all had gone well for him, the 
final outcome of his schemes resulting in the unification of the 
minor German states into one powerful empire. 

(292) 



BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 293 

BISMAKCK AS A STATESMAN 

It was in the formation of the modern German Empire that 
the far-sighted plans of Bismarck culminated. King William was 
a tool in his hands for this purpose, moving as he suggested and 
doing as he wished. The states of Germany, aside from Austria, 
had actively participated in the recent war, the steps towards 
unification which had been taken during the few preceding years 
having now reached the point in which a complete amalgamation 
might be effected. 

The Holy Roman Empire, which had lasted throughout the 
medieval period in some phase of strength and power, at times 
predominant, at times little more than a title, had received its 
death-blow from the hands of Napoleon and vanished from the 
historic stage. It was Bismarck's design to restore the German 
Empire — not the old, moth-eaten fiction of the past, but an entirely 
new one — and give Prussia the position it had earned, that of the 
great center of German racial unity. In this project Austria, long 
at the head of the old empire, was to have no part, the imperial 
dignity being conferred upon the venerable King William of Prussia, 
a monarch whose birth dated back to the eighteenth century, and 
who had lived throughout the Napoleonic wars. 

UNITING THE GERMAN STATES 

Near the close of 1870 Bismarck concluded treaties with the 
ambassadors of the South German States, in which they agreed to 
accept the constitution of the North German Union. These 
treaties were ratified, after some opposition from the " patriots" of 
the lower house, by the legislatures of the four states involved. 
The next step in the proceeding was a suggestion from the king of 
Bavaria to the other princes that the imperial crown of Germany 
should be offered to King William of Prussia. 

When the North German Diet at Berlin had given its consent 
to the new constitution, a congratulatory address was despatched to 
the Prussian monarch at Versailles. It announced to the aged 



294 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

hero-king the nation's wish that he should accept the new dignity. 
He replied to the deputation in solemn audience that he accepted 
the imperial dignity which the German nation and its princes had 
offered him. On the 1st of January, 1871, the new constitution was 
to come into operation. 

WILLIAM I CROWNED AT VERSAILLES 

The solemn assumption of the imperial office did not take place, 
however, until the 18th of January, the day on which, one hundred 
and seventy years before, the new emperor's ancestor, Frederick I, 
had placed the Prussian crown on his head at Konigsberg, and thus 
laid the basis of the growing greatness of his house. It was an 
ever-memorable coincidence that, in the superb-mirrored hall of 
the Versailles palace, where since the days of Richelieu so many 
plans had been concocted for the humiliation of Germany, King 
William should now proclaim himself German emperor. After 
the reading of the imperial proclamation to the German people 
by Count Bismarck, the Grand Duke led a cheer, in which the 
whole assembly joined amid the singing of national hymns. Thus 
the important event had taken place which again summoned the 
German Empire to life, and made over the imperial crown with 
renewed splendor to another royal house. Barbarossa's old legend, 
that the dominion of the empire was, after long tribulation, to 
pass from the Hohenstaufen to the Hohenzollern, was now ful- 
filled; the dream long aspired after by German youth had now 
become a reality and a living fact. 

The tidings of the conclusion of peace with France, whose 
preliminaries were completed at Frankfort on the 10th of May, 
1871, filled all Germany with joy, and peace festivals on the most 
splendid scale extended from end to end of the new empire, in all 
parts of which an earnest spirit of patriotism was shown, while 
Germans from all regions of the world sent home expressions of 
warm sympathy with the new national organization of their 
fatherland. 



BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 295 

A SIGNIFICANT DECADE 

The decade just completed had been one of remarkable politi- 
cal changes in Europe, unsurpassed in significance during any other 
period of equal length. The temporal dominion of the pope had 
vanished and all Italy had been united under the rule of a single 
king. The empire of France had been overthrown and a republic 
established in its place, while that country had sunk greatly in 
prominence among the European states. Austria had been 
utterly defeated in war, had lost its last hold on Italy and its 
position of influence among the German states. And all the 
remaining German lands had united into a great and powerful 
empire, promising to gain such extraordinary military strength that 
the surrounding nations looked on in doubt, full of vague fears 
of trouble from this new and potent power introduced into 
their midst. 

Bismarck, however, showed an earnest desire to maintain 
international peace and good relations, seeking to win the con- 
fidence of foreign governments, while at the same time improving 
and increasing that military force which had been proved to be so 
mighty an engine of war. 

In the constitution of the new empire two legislative bodies, 
already possessed by the Confederation of North German States, 
were provided for — the Bundesrath or Federal Council, whose mem- 
bers are annually appointed by the respective state governments, 
and the Reichstag or representative body, whose members are 
elected by universal suffrage for a period of three years, an annual 
session being required. Germany, therefore, in its present 
organization, is practically a federal union of states, each with its own 
powers of internal government, and with a common legislature ap- 
proximating to our Senate and House of Representatives. But this 
did not make the German emperor a parliamentary monarch. From 
the fact that the consent of both assemblies was necessary to 
change the law, he governed as he pleased and had no other min- 
isterial representative than the high chancellor of the empire, 



296 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

depending solely on the sovereign. After 1870 he was in the em- 
pire what he had been previously in Prussia, the essential repre- 
sentative of the country and the supreme head of the military forces. 

The remaining incidents of Bismarck's remarkable career may 
be briefly given. It consisted largely in a struggle with the 
Catholic Church organization, which had attained to great power 
in Germany, and was aggressive to an extent that roused the 
vigorous opposition of the chancellor of the empire, who was not 
willing to acknowledge any power in Germany other than that 
of the emperor. 

King Frederick William IV, the predecessor of the reigning 
monarch, had made active efforts to strengthen the Catholic 
Church in Prussia, its clergy gaining greater privileges in that 
Protestant state than they possessed in any of the Catholic states. 
They had established everywhere in North Germany their con- 
gregations and monasteries, and by their control of public educa- 
tion seemed in a fair way eventually to make Catholicism supreme 
in the empire. 

THE PROBLEM OF CHURCH POWER 

This state of affairs Bismarck set himself energetically to 
reform. The minister of religious affairs was forced to resign, 
and his place was taken by Falk, a sagacious statesman, who 
introduced a new school law, bringing the whole educational system 
under state control, and carefully regulating the power of the 
clergy over religious and moral education. This law met with 
such violent opposition that all the personal influence of Bismarck 
and Falk were needed to carry it, and it gave such deep offense 
to the pope that he refused to receive the German ambassador. 
He declared the Falk law invalid, and the German bishops united 
in a declaration against the chancellor. Bismarck retorted by a 
law expelling the Jesuits from the empire. 

In 1873 the state of affairs became so embittered that the 
rights and liberties of the citizens seemed to need protection against 



BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 297 

a priesthood armed with extensive powers of discipline and excom- 
munication. In consequence Bismarck introduced, and by his 
eloquence and influence carried, what were known as the May- 
Laws. These required the scientific education of the Catholic 
clergy, the confirmation of clerical appointments by the state, and 
the formation of a tribunal to consider and revise the conduct of 
the bishops. 

These enactments precipitated a bitter contest between Church 
and State, while the pope declared the May Laws null and void 
and threatened with excommunication all priests who should sub- 
mit to them. The State retorted by withdrawing its financial sup- 
port from the Catholic Church and abolishing those clauses of the 
constitution under which the Church claimed independence of the 
State, Pope Pius IX died in 1878, and on the election of Leo 
XIII attempts were made to reconcile the existing differences. 
The reconciliation was a victory for the Church, since the May Laws 
ceased to be operative, the church revenues were restored and the 
control of the clergy over education in considerable measure was 
regained. New concessions were granted in 1886 and 1887, and 
Bismarck felt himself beaten in his long conflict with his clerical 
opponents, who had proved too strong and deeply entrenched for him. 

PROGRESS OF SOCIALISM 

Economic questions became also prominent, the revenues of 
the empire requiring some change in the system of free trade and 
the adoption of protective duties, while the railroads were acquired 
as public property by the various states of the empire. Mean- 
while the rapid growth of socialism excited apprehension, which 
was added to when two attempts were made on the life of the 
emperor. These were attributed to the socialists, and severe 
laws for the suppression of socialism were enacted. Bismarck 
also sought to cut the ground from under the feet of the socialists 
by an endeavor to improve the condition of the working classes. 
In 1881 laws were passed compelling employers to insure their 



298 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

workmen in case of sickness or accident, and in 1888 a system of 
compulsory insurance against death and old age was introduced. 
None of these measures, however, checked the growth of socialism, 
which very actively continued. 

In 1882 a meeting was arranged by the chancellor between 
the emperors of Germany, Russia, and Austria, which was looked 
upon in Europe as a political alliance. In 1878 Russia drifted 
somewhat apart from Germany, but in the following year an 
alliance of defense and offense was concluded with Austria, and 
a similar alliance at a later date with Italy. This, which still 
continues, is known as the Triple Alliance. In 1877 Bismarck 
announced his intention to retire, being worn out with the great 
labors of his position. To this the emperor, who felt that his state 
rested on the shoulders of the "Iron Chancellor," would not listen, 
though he gave him indefinite leave of absence. 

On March 9, 1888, Emperor William died. He was ninety 
years of age, having been born in 1797. He was succeeded by his 
son Frederick, then incurably ill from a cancerous affection of the 
throat, which carried him to the grave after a reign of ninety-nine 
days. His oldest son, William, succeeded on June 15, 1888, as 
William II. 

WILLIAM II AND THE RESIGNATION OF BISMARCK 

The liberal era which was looked for under Frederick was 
checked by his untimely death, his son at once returning to the 
policy of William I and Bismarck. He proved to be far more 
positive and dictatorial in disposition than his grandfather, with 
decided and vigorous views of his own, which soon brought him 
into conflict with the equally positive chancellor. The result was 
a rupture with Bismarck, and his resignation (a virtual dismissal) 
from the premiership in 1890. The young emperor proposed to 
be his own minister and subsequently devoted himself in a large 
measure to the increase of the army and navy, a policy which 
brought him into frequent conflicts with the Reichstag, whose 



BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 299 

rapidly growing socialistic membership was in strong opposition 
to this development of militarism. 

The old statesman, to whom Germany owed so much, was 
deeply aggrieved by this lack of gratitude on the part of the self- 
opinionated young emperor, in view of his great services to the 
state. The wound rankled deeply, though a seeming reconcilia- 
tion took place. But the political career of the great Bismarck 
was at an end, and he died on July 30, 1898. It is an interesting 
coincidence that almost at the same time died the equally great, 
but markedly different, statesman of England, William Ewart 
Gladstone. Count Cavour, the third great European statesman 
of the latter half of the nineteenth century, had completed his work 
and passed away nearly forty years before. 

The career of William II soon became one of much interest 
and some alarm to the other nations of Europe. His eagerness for 
the development of the army and navy, and the energy with which 
he pushed forward its organization and sought to add to its strength, 
seemed significant of warlike intentions, and there was dread that 
this energetic young monarch might break the peace of Europe, if 
only to prove the irresistible strength of the military machine he 
had formed. But as years went on the apprehensions to which 
his early career and expressions gave rise were quieted, and the fear 
that he would plunge Europe into war vanished. The army and 
navy began to appear rather a costly plaything of the active young 
man than an engine of destruction, while it tended in considerable 
measure to the preservation of peace by rendering Germany a power 
dangerous to go to war with. 

The speeches with which the emperor began his reign showed 
an exaggerated sense of the imperial dignity, though his later career 
indicated far more judgment and good sense than the early display 
of overweening self-importance promised, and the views of William 
II eventually came to command far more respect than they did 
at first. He showed himself a man of exuberant energy. Despite 
a permanent weakness of his left arm and a serious affection of the 



300 BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

ear, he early became a skilful horseman and an untiring hunter, 
as well as an enthusiastic yachtsman, and there were few men in the 
empire more active and enterprising than the Kaiser. 

OLD AGE INSURANCE 

A principal cause of the break between William and Bismarck 
was the imperial interference with the laws for the suppression of 
socialism. As already stated, the old chancellor had established a 
system of compulsory old age insurance, through which workmen 
and their employers— aided by the state — were obliged to provide 
for the support of artisans after a certain age. The system seems 
to have worked satisfactorily, but socialism of a more radical kind 
grew in the empire far more rapidly than the emperor approved of, 
and he vigorously, though unsuccessfully, endeavored to prevent 
its increase. Another of his favorite measures, a religious education 
bill, he was obliged to withdraw on account of the opposition it 
excited. On more than one occasion he came into sharp conflict 
with the Reichstag concerning increased taxation for the army 
and navy, and a strong party against his autocratic methods sprang 
up, and forced him more than once to recede from warmly-cherished 
measures. 

POLITICAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS IN GERMANY 

It may be of interest here to say something concerning the 
organization of the German empire. The constitution of this empire, 
as adopted April 16, 1871, proposes to "form an eternal union 
for the protection of the realm and the care of the welfare of the 
German people," and places the supreme direction of military and 
political affairs in the Bang of Prussia, under the title of Deutscher 
Kaiser (German emperor). The war-making powers of the emperor, 
however, are restricted, since he is required to obtain the consent 
of the Bundesrath (the Federal Council) before he can declare war 
otherwise than for the defense of the realm. His authority as 
emperor, in fact, is much less than that which he exercises as King 



BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 301 

of Prussia, since the imperial legislature is independent of him, 
he having no power of veto over the laws passed by it. His actual 
military power, however, is practically supreme, as demonstrated 
in the opening events of the war of 1914. 

The legislature, as stated, consists of two bodies, the Bundes- 
rath, representing the states of the union, whose members, 58 in 
number, are chosen for each session by the several state governments ; 
and the Reichstag, representing the people, whose members, 397 
in number, are elected by universal suffrage for periods of five years. 
The German union, as constituted in 1914, comprised four king- 
doms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three 
sovereign cities, and the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine; twenty- 
six separate states in all. It included all the German peoples of 
Europe with the exception of those of Austria. 

The progress of Germany within the modern period has been 
very great. The population of the states of the empire, 24,831,000 
at the end of the Napoleonic wars, had become, a century later, over 
64,000,000, having added 40,000,000 to the roll of inhabitants. The 
country, once divided into an unwieldy multitude of states, often 
of minute proportions, has become consolidated into the number 
above named, each of these possessing some degree of importance. 
These, as combined into a federal union, or empire, have an area 
of 208,830 square miles, of which Prussia holds the lion's share, its 
area being 134,605 square miles. 

The presidency of the empire belongs to the king of Prussia 
and is hereditary in his family. Besides the Imperial Parliament, 
each state has its own special legislature and laws, but railroads 
regarded as necessary for the defense of Germany or the facilitating 
of general communications may come under a law of the empire, 
even against the opposition of the members of the confederation 
whose territory is traversed. The states have their respective 
armies, but it is the emperor who disposes of them ; he appoints the 
heads of the contingents, approves the generals, and has the right 
to establish fortresses over the whole territory of the empire. 



302 [BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

The wealth of the German empire has grown in a far greater 
area than its population, it having developed into the most active 
manufacturing country in Europe. Agriculture has similarly 
advanced, and one of its chief products, that of the sugar beet, has 
enormously increased, beet-root sugar being among its chief indus- 
trial yields. In addition, Germany has grown to be one of the most 
active commercial nations of the earth. Thus it has taken a place 
among the most active productive and commercial countries, its 
wealth and importance being correspondingly augmented. These 
particulars are of interest as showing the standing of Germany at 
the outbreak of the war of 1914 and indicating its degree of ability 
to bear the fearful strain of so great a war. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Gladstone as an Apostle of Reform 

Great Britain Becomes a World Power 

Gladstone and Disraeli — Gladstone's Famous Budget — A Suffrage Reform Bill — 
Disraeli's Reform Measure — Irish Church Disestablishment — An Irish Land Bill — 
Desperate State of Ireland — The Coercion Bill — War in Africa — Home Rule for 

Ireland 

IT is a fact of much interest, as showing the growth of the 
human mind, that William Ewart Gladstone, the great advo- 
cate of English Liberalism, made his first political speech in 
vigorous opposition to the Reform Bill of 1831. He was then a 
student at Oxford University, but this boyish address had such 
an effect upon his hearers, that Bishop Wordsworth felt sure the 
speaker would "one day rise to be Prime Minister of England." 
This prophetic utterance may be mated with another one, by 
Archdeacon Denison, who said: "I have just heard the best speech 
I ever heard in my life, by Gladstone, against the Reform Bill. 
But, mark my words, that man will one day be a Liberal, for he 
argued against the Bill on liberal grounds." 

Both these far-seeing men hit the mark. Gladstone became 
Prime Minister and the leader of the Liberal Party in England. 
Yet he had been reared as a Conservative, and for many years 
he marched under the banner of Conservatism. His political 
career began in the first Reform Parliament, in January, 1833. 
Two years afterward he was made an under-secretary in Sir Robert 
Peel's Cabinet. It was under the same premier that he first 
became a full member of the cabinet, in 1845, as Secretary of 
State for the Colonies. He was still a Tory in home politics, but 
had become a Liberal in his commercial ideas, and was Peel's right- 
hand man in carrying out his great commercial policy. 

(303) 



304 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

The repeal of the Corn-Laws was the work for which his 
cabinet had been formed, and Gladstone, as the leading free- 
trader in the Tory ranks, was called to it. As for Cobden, the 
apostle of free-trade, Gladstone admired him immensely. "I do 
not know," he said in later years, "that there is in any period a 
man whose public career and life were nobler or more admirable. 
Of course, I except Washington. Washington, to my mind, is 
the purest figure in history." As an advocate of free trade Glad- 
stone first came into connection with another noble figure, that 
of John Bright, who was to remain associated with him during 
most of his career. In 1857 he first took rank as one of the great 
moral forces of modern times. In that year he visited Naples, 
where he saw the barbarous treatment of political prisoners under 
the government of the infamous King Bomba, and described them 
in letters whose indignation was breathed in such tremendous tones 
that England was stirred to its depths and all Europe awakened. 
These thrilling epistles gave the cause of Italian freedom an impetus 
that had much to do with its subsequent success, and gained for 
Gladstone the warmest veneration of patriotic Italians. 

GLADSTONE AND DISRAELI 

In 1852 he first came into opposition with the man against 
whom he was to be pitted during the remainder of his career, 
Benjamin Disraeli, who had made himself a power in Parliament, 
and in that year became Chancellor of the Exchequer in Lord 
Derby's Cabinet and leader of the House of Commons. The 
revenue budget introduced by him showed a sad lack of financial 
ability, and called forth sharp criticisms, to which he replied in 
a speech made up of scoffs, gibes and biting sarcasms, so daring 
and audacious in character as almost to intimidate the House. 
As he sat down Mr. Gladstone rose and launched forth into an 
oration which became historic. He gave voice to that indignation 
which lay suppressed beneath the cowed feeling which for the 
moment the Chancellor of the Exchequer's performance had left 



GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 305 

among his hearers. In a few minutes the House was wildly cheer- 
ing the intrepid champion who had rushed into the breach, and 
when Mr. Gladstone concluded, having torn to shreds the proposals 
of the budget, a majority followed him into the division lobby, 
and Mr. Disraeli found his government beaten by nineteen votes. 
Such was the first great encounter between the two rivals. 

Gladstone's famous budget 

In the cabinet that followed, headed by Lord Aberdeen, 
Gladstone succeeded Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer, a 
position in which he was to make a great mark. In April, 1853, 
he introduced his first budget, a marvel of ingenious statesman- 
ship, in its highly successful effort to equalize taxation. It remitted 
various taxes which had pressed hard upon the poor and restricted 
business, and replaced them by applying the succession duty to 
real estate, increasing the duty on spirits, and extending the 
income tax. 

Taken altogether, and especially in its expedients to equalize 
taxation, this first budget of Mr. Gladstone may be justly called 
the greatest of the century. The speech in which it was intro- 
duced and expounded created an extraordinary impression on the 
House and the country. For the first time in Parliament figures 
were made as interesting as a fairy tale; the dry bones of statistics 
were invested with a new and potent life, and it was shown how 
the yearly balancing of the national accounts might be directed 
by and made to promote the profoundest and most fruitful prin- 
ciples of statesmanship. With such lucidity and picturesqueness 
was this financial oratory rolled forth that the dullest intellect 
could follow with pleasure the complicated scheme; and for five 
hours the House of Commons sat as if it were under the sway of 
a magician's wand. When Mr. Gladstone resumed his seat, it 
was felt that the career of the coalition ministry was assured by 
the genius that was discovered in its Chancellor of the Exchequer. 

It was, indeed, to Gladstone's remarkable oratorical powers 

20 



306 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

that much of his success as a statesman was due. No man of his 
period was his equal in swaying and convincing his hearers. His 
rich and musical voice, his varied and animated gestures, his 
impressive and vigorous delivery, great fluency, and wonderful 
precision of statement, gave him a power over an audience which 
few men of the century have enjoyed. His sentences, indeed, were 
long and involved, growing more so as his years advanced, but 
their fine choice of words, rich rhetoric, and eloquent delivery car- 
ried away all that heard him, as did his deep earnestness and 
intense conviction of the truth of his utterances. 

Meanwhile his Liberalism had been steadily growing, reach- 
ing its culmination in 1865, when the Tory University of Oxford, 
which he had long represented, rejected him as its member, unable 
longer to swallow his ultra views. The rejection was greeted by 
him as a compliment. He at once offered himself as a candidate 
for South Lancashire and in the opening of his speech at Man- 
chester said: "At last, my friends, I am come among you; to use 
an expression which has become very famous and is not likely to 
be forgotten, 'I am come among you unmuzzled.' " 

Unmuzzled he indeed was, free at last to give the fullest 
expression to his Liberal faith. In 1866 he became, for the first 
time in Ins career, leader of the House of Commons- — Lord Russell, 
the Prime Minister, being in the House of Lords. Many of his 
friends feared for him in this difficult position; but the event 
proved that they had no occasion for alarm, he showing himself 
one of the most successful leaders the House had ever had. 

A SUFFRAGE REFORM BILL 

His first important duty in this position was to introduce the 
new Suffrage Reform Bill, a measure to extend the franchise in 
counties and boroughs that would have added about 400,000 
voters to the electorate. In the debate that followed Gladstone 
and Disraeli were again pitted against each other in a grand 
oratorical contest. Disraeli taunted him with his youthful speech 



GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 307 

at Oxford against the Reform Bill of 1831. Gladstone retorted by 
scoring his opponent for clinging to a conservatism which he gloried 
in having been strong enough to reject. He ended with this stir- 
ring prediction: 

"You cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side. 
The great social forces which move onwards in their might and 
majesty, and which the tumult of our debates does not for a moment 
impede or disturb, those great social forces are against you: they 
are marshaled on our side; and the banner which we now carry 
into this fight, though perhaps at some moment it may droop over 
our sinking heads, yet it soon again will float in the eye of Heaven, 
and it will be borne by the firm hands of the united people of the 
three kingdoms, perhaps not to an easy, but to a certain, and 
to a not far distant, victory." 

He was right in saying that it would not be a distant victory. 
Disraeli and his party defeated the bill, but the people rose in a 
vigorous demand for it, ten thousand of them marching past Glad- 
stone's house, singing odes in honor of "the People's William." 
John Bright, an eloquent orator and strenuous advocate of moral 
reform and political progress, joined Gladstone in his campaign. 
Through the force of their eloquence the tide of public opinion 
rose to such a height that the new Derby-Disraeli ministry was 
obliged to bring in a bill similar in purpose to that which it had 
overthrown. 

DISKAELl'S REFORM MEASURE 

This Tory bill proved satisfactory to Gladstone in its general 
features. He had won a great victory in forcing its introduction. 
But he proposed so many changes in its details — all of them yielded 
in committee — that a satirical lord remarked that nothing of the 
original bill remained but its opening word "Whereas." As 
thus modified, it was more liberal than the measure that had been 
defeated, and the people gave full credit for it to Gladstone, whom 
they credited with giving them their right to vote. 



308 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

The two potent political champions, Gladstone and Disraeli, 
soon after attained the summit height of British political ambition. 
In February, 1868, the failing health of Lord Derby forced him to 
resign the ministry, and Disraeli succeeded him as Prime Minister, 
thus the " Asian Mystery," as he had been entitled, gained the 
highest office in the British government. He did not hold this 
office long. His party was defeated on the question of the disestab- 
lishment of the Irish Church, and on December 4th of the same year 
Gladstone took his place. Thus, after thirty-five years of public 
life, Gladstone had attained the post in which he was to spend 
most of his later life. 

Bishop Wilberforce, who met him in this hour of triumph, 
wrote thus of him in his journal: " Gladstone as ever great, earnest 
and honest; as unlike the tricky Disraeli as possible. He is so 
delightfully true and the same; just as full of interest in every good 
thing of every kind." 

The period which followed the election of 1868 — the period 
of the Gladstone Administration of 1868-74 — has been called "the 
golden age of Liberalism." It was certainly a period of great 
reforms. The first, the most heroic, and probably — taking all the 
results into account — the most completely successful of these, was 
the disestablishment of the Irish Church. 

IEISH CHURCH DISESTABLISHMENT 

Any interference with the prerogatives or absoluteness of an 
established church institution is sure to arouse vigorous opposition. 
The Disestablishment Bill, introduced on the 1st of March, 1869, 
was greeted in Ireland with the wildest protests from those interested 
in the Establishment. One synod, with a large assumption of 
inspired knowledge, denounced it as "highly offensive to the Al- 
mighty God." A martial clergyman offered to "kick the Queen's 
crown into the Boyne," if she assented to any such measure. An- 
other proposed to fight with the Bible in one hand and the sword 
in the other. 



GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 309 

These wild outbreaks of theological partisanship had no effect on 
Gladstone, whose speech was one of the greatest marvels amongst 
his oratorical achievements. His chief opponent declared that, 
though it lasted three hours, it did not contain a redundant word. 
The scheme which it unfolded — a scheme which withdrew the tem- 
poral establishment of a Church in such a manner that the Church 
was benefited, not injured, and which lifted from the backs of an 
oppressed people an intolerable burden — was a triumph of creative 
genius. 

Disraeli's speech in opposition to this measure was referred 
to by the London Times as "flimsiness relieved by spangles." 
After a debate in which Mr. Bright made one of his most famous 
speeches, the bill was carried by a majority of 118. Before this 
strong manifestation of the popular will the House of Lords, which 
deeply disliked the bill, felt obliged to give way, and passed it by 
a majority of seven. , 

AN IRISH LAND BILL 

In 1870 Mr. Gladstone introduced his Irish Land Bill, a meas- 
ure of reform which Parliament had for years refused to grant. 
By it the tenant was given the right to hold his farm as long as 
he paid his rent, and received a claim upon the improvement made 
by himself and his predecessors — a tenant-right which he could sell. 
This bill was triumphantly carried; and another important Liberal 
measure, Mr. Forster's Education Bill, became law. 

Other liberal measures were passed, but the tide which had 
set so long in this direction turned at last, the government was 
defeated in 1873 on a bill for University Education, and in a sub- 
sequent election the Liberal party met with defeat. Gladstone at 
once resigned and was succeeded by Disraeli. Two years later the 
latter was raised to the peerage by the Queen under the title of the 
Earl of Beaconsfield. Gladstone was not in the field for honors 
of this type. He much preferred to inherit the title of a distin- 
guished predecessor, that of "The Great Commoner.' , During 



310 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

his recess from office he occupied himself in literary labors and as 
a critical commentator upon the foreign policy of Disraeli, which 
plunged the country into a Zulu war which Gladstone denounced 
as "one of the most monstrous and indefensible in our history," 
and an Afghan war which he described as a national crime. 

These and other acts of Tory policy in time brought liberalism 
again into the forefront, an election held in 1880 resulted in a great 
Liberal victory, Disraeli (then Lord Beaconsfield) resigned, and 
Gladstone was once again called to the head of the ministry. In 
the new administration the foreign policy, the meddling in the 
concerns of the East, which had held precedence over domestic 
affairs under the preceding administration, vanished from sight, 
and the Irish question again became prominent. Ireland had now 
gained an able leader, Charles Stewart Parnell, founder of the 
Irish Land League, a trade union of Irish farmers, and its affairs 
could no longer be consigned to the background. 

Gladstone, in assuming control of the new government, was 
quite unaware of the task before him. When he had completed 
his work with the Church and the Land bills ten years before, he 
fondly fancied that the Irish question was definitely settled. The 
Home Rule movement, which was started in 1870, seemed to him 
a wild delusion which would die away of itself. In 1884 he said: 
"I frankly admit that I had had much upon my hands connected 
with the doings of the Beaconsfield Government in every quarter 
of the world, and I did not know — no one knew — the severity of 
the crisis that was already swelling upon the horizon, and that 
shortly after rushed upon us like a flood." 

DESPERATE STATE OF IRELAND 

He was not long in discovering the gravity of the situation, 
of which the House had been warned by Mr. Parnell. The famine 
had brought its crop of misery, and, while the charitable were seek- 
ing to relieve the distress, many of the landlords were turning adrift 
their tenants for non-payment of rents. The Irish party brought 



GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 311 

in a Bill for the Suspension of Evictions, which the government 
replaced by a similar one for Compensation for Disturbance. This 
was passed with a large majority by the Commons, but was rejected 
by the Lords, and Ireland was left to face its misery without relief. 
The state of Ireland at that moment was too critical to be 
dealt with in this manner. The rejection of the Compensation for 
Disturbance Bill was, to the peasantry whom it had been intended 
to protect, a message of despair, and it was followed by the usual 
symptom of despair in Ireland, an outbreak of agrarian crime. On 
the one hand over 17,000 persons were evicted; on the other there 
was a dreadful crop of murders and outrages. The Land League 
sought to do what Parliament did not; but in doing so it came in 
contact with the law. Moreover, the revolution — for revolution 
it seemed to be — grew too formidable for its control; the utmost 
it succeeded in doing was in some sense to ride without directing 
the storm. The first decisive step of Mr. Forster, the chief secretary 
for Ireland, was to strike a blow at the Land League. In November 
he ordered the prosecution of Mr. Parnell, Mr. Biggar, and several 
of the officials of the organization, and before the year was out he 
announced his intention of introducing a Coercion Bill. This step 
threw the Irish members under Mr. Parnell and the Liberal Govern- 
ment into relations of definitive antagonism. 

THE COERCION BILL 

Mr. Forster introduced his Coercion Bill on January 24, 1881. 
It was a formidable measure, which enabled the chief secretary, 
by signing a warrant, to arrest any man on suspicion of having 
committed a given offense, and to imprison him without trial at 
the pleasure of the government. It practically suspended the 
liberties of Ireland. The Irish members exhausted every resource 
of parliamentary action in resisting it, and their tactics resulted in 
several scenes unprecedented in parliamentary history. In order 
to pass the bill it was necessary to suspend them in a body several 
times. Mr. Gladstone, with manifest pain, found himself, as leader 



312 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

of the House, the agent by whom this extreme resolve had to be 
executed. 

The Coercion Bill passed, Mr. Gladstone introduced his Land 
Bill of 1881, which was the measure of conciliation intended to 
balance the measure of repression. This was really a great and 
sweeping reform, whose dominant feature was the introduction 
of the novel and far-reaching principle of the state stepping in 
between landlord and tenant and fixing the rents. The bill had 
some defects, as a series of amending acts, which were subsequently 
passed by both Liberal and Tory governments, proved ; but, apart 
from these, it was on the whole the greatest measure of land reform 
ever passed for Ireland by the Imperial Parliament. 

Bui Ireland was not yet satisfied. Parnell had no confidence 
in the good intentions of the government, and took steps to test 
its honesty, which so angered Mr. Forster that he arrested Mr. 
Parnell and several other leaders and pronounced the Land League 
an illegal body. Forster was well-meaning but mistaken. He 
fancied that by locking up the ring-leaders he could bring quiet 
to the country. On the contrary, affairs were soon far worse than 
ever, crime and outrage spreading widely. In despair, Mr. Forster 
released Parnell and resigned. All now seemed hopeful; coercion 
had proved a failure; peace and quiet were looked for; when, 
four days afterward, the whole country was horrified by a terrible 
crime. The new Secretary for Ireland, Lord Cavendish, and the 
under-secretary, Mr. Burke, were attacked and hacked to death 
with knives in Phoenix Park. Everywhere panic and indignation 
arose. A new Coercion Act was passed without delay. It was 
vigorously put into effect, and a state of virtual war between Eng- 
land and Ireland again came into existence. 

WARS IN AFRICA 

Meanwhile Great Britain had been brought back into the tide 
of foreign affairs. Events were taking place abroad which must 
here be dealt with briefly. The ambitious Briton, who loves to 



GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 313 

carry the world on his shoulders, had made the control of the Suez 
Canal an excuse for meddling with the government of Egypt. The 
immediate results were a revolution that drove Ismail Pasha from 
his throne, and a revolt of the people under an ambitious leader 
named Arabi Pasha, who seized Alexandria and drove out the 
British, many of whom were killed. 

Gladstone, who deprecated war, now found himself with a 
conflict thrust upon his hands. The British fleet bombarded Alex- 
andria, and the British army occupied it after it had been half 
reduced to ashes. Soon after General Wolseley defeated Arabi 
and his army and the insurrection ended. A sequel to this affair 
was a formidable outbreak in the Soudan, under El Mahdi, a 
Mohammedan fanatic, who captured the city of Khartoum and killed 
the famous General Gordon. Years passed before Upper Egypt 
was reconquered, it being recovered only at the close of the century. 
Since then Egypt has remained under British control. 

There were serious troubles also in South Africa. The Brit- 
ish of Cape Colony had pushed their way into the Boer settlement 
of the Transvaal, claiming jurisdiction over it. The valiant Dutch 
settlers broke into war, and dealt the invaders a signal defeat at 
Majuba Hill. This was the opening step in a series of occurrences 
which led to the later Boer war, in which the British, with great 
loss, conquered the Boers, followed in later years by a practical 
reconquest of the country by its Boer inhabitants in peaceful 
ways. 

Such were the wars of the Gladstone administration, events 
of which he did not approve, but into which he was irresistibly 
drawn. At home the Irish question continued in the forefront. 
The African wars having weakened the administration, a vigorous 
assault was made on it by the Irish party in 1885, and it fell. But 
its demise was a very brief one. After a short experience of a 
Tory ministry under Lord Salisbury, Parnell's party rallied to 
Gladstone's side, the new government was defeated, and on February 
1, 1886, Gladstone became Prime Minister for the third time. 



314 GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

HOME RULE FOR IRELAND 

During the brief interval his opinions had suffered a great 
revolution. He no longer thought that Ireland had all it could 
justly demand. He returned to power as an advocate of a most 
radical measure, that of Home Rule for Ireland, a restoration of 
that separate Parliament which it had lost in 1800. He also had 
a scheme to buy out the Irish landlords and establish a peasant 
proprietary by state aid. His new views were revolutionary in 
character, but he did not hesitate — he never hesitated to do what 
his conscience told him was right. On April 8, 1886, he intro- 
duced to Parliament his Home Rule Bill. 

The scene that afternoon was one of the most remarkable in 
Parliamentary history. Never before was such interest manifested 
in a debate by either the public or the members of the House. 
In order to secure their places, members arrived at St. Stephen's 
at six o'clock in the morning, and spent the day on the premises; 
and, a thing quite unprecedented, members who could not find 
places on the benches filled up the floor of the House with rows of 
chairs. The strangers', diplomats', peers', and ladies' galleries 
were filled to overflowing. Men begged even to be admitted to 
the ventilating passages beneath the floor of the chamber that 
they might in some sense be witnesses of the greatest feat in the 
lifetime of an illustrious old man of eighty. Around Palace Yard 
an enormous crowd surged, waiting to give the veteran a welcome 
as he drove up from Downing Street. 

Mr. Gladstone arrived in the House, pale and still panting 
from the excitement of his reception in the streets. As he sat 
there the entire Liberal party — with the exception of Lord Hart- 
ington, Sir Henry James, Mr. Chamberlain and Sir George Trev- 
elyan — and the Nationalist members, by a spontaneous impulse, 
sprang to their feet and cheered him again and again. The speech 
which he delivered was in every way worthy of the occasion. It 
expounded, with marvelous lucidity and a noble eloquence, a 
tremendous scheme of constructive legislation — the re-establishment 



GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 315 

of a legislature in Ireland, but one subordinate to the Imperial 
Parliament, and hedged round with every safeguard which could 
protect the unity of the Empire. It took three hours in delivery, 
and was listened to throughout with the utmost attention on every 
side of the House. At its close all parties united in a tribute of 
admiration for the genius which had astonished them with such 
an exhibition of its powers. 

Yet it is one thing to cheer an orator, another thing to vote 
for a revolution. The bill was defeated — as it was almost sure 
to be. Mr. Gladstone at once dissolved Parliament and appealed 
to the country in a new election, with the result that he was 
decisively defeated. His bold declaration that the contest was one 
between the classes and the masses turned the aristocracy against 
him, while he had again roused the bitter hatred of his opponents. 

Gladstone, the "Grand Old Man," a title which he had nobly 
won, returned to power in 1892, after a period of wholesale coercion 
in Ireland. He was not to remain there long. He brought in a 
new Home Rule Bill, supported it with much of his old vigor, and 
had the intense satisfaction of having it passed, with a majority 
of thirty-four. It was defeated in the House of Lords, and Home 
Rule still remains the prominent issue in Ireland, which it has 
divided into two camps, Protestant Ulster being in revolt against 
the Catholic provinces. 

With this great event the public career of the Grand Old Man 
came to an end. The burden had grown too heavy for his reduced 
strength. In March, 1894, to the consternation of his party, he 
announced his intention of retiring from public life. The Queen 
offered, as she had done once before, to raise him to the peerage 
as an earl, but he declined the proffer. His own plain name was a 
title higher than that of any earldom in the kingdom. 

On May 19, 1898, William Ewart Gladstone laid down the 
burden of his life as he had already done that of labor. The noblest 
figure in legislative life of the nineteenth century had passed away 
from earth. 



CHAPTER XX 

The French Republic 

Struggles of a New Nation 

The Republic Organized — The Commune of Paris — Instability of the Government — 
Thiers Proclaimed President — Punishment of the Unsuccessful Generals — McMahon 
a Royalist President — Bazaine's Sentence and Escape — Grevy, Gambetta and Boulanger 
— Despotism of the Army Leaders — The Dreyfus Case — Church and State — The 

Moroccan Controversy. 

IT has been already told how the capitulation of the French army 
at Sedan and the captivity of Louis Napoleon were followed 
in Paris by the overthrow of the empire and the formation 
of a republic, the third in the history of French political changes. 
A provisional government was formed, the legislative assembly 
was dissolved, and all the court paraphernalia of the imperial 
establishment disappeared. The new government was called in 
Paris the "Government of Lawyers," most of its members and 
officials belonging to that profession. At its head was General 
Trochu, in command of the army in Paris; among its chief mem- 
bers were Jules Favre and Gambetta. While upright in its mem- 
bership and honorable in its purposes, it was an arbitrary body, 
formed by a coup d'etat like that by which Napoleon had seized 
the reins of power, and not destined for a long existence. 

THE REPUBLIC ORGANIZED 

The news of the fall of Metz and the surrender of Bazaine and 
his army served as a fresh spark to the inflammable public feeling 
of France. In Paris the Red Republic raised the banner of 
insurrection against the government of the national defense and 
endeavored to revive the spirit of the Commune of 1793. The 
insurgents marched to the senate-house, demanded the election of 

(316) 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 317 

a municipal council which should share power with the govern- 
ment, and proceeded to imprison Trochu, Jules Favre, and their 
associates. This, however, was but a temporary success of the 
Commune, and the provisional government continued in existence 
until the end of the war, when a national assembly was elected by 
the people and the temporary government was set aside. Gam- 
betta, the dictator, "the organizer of defeats," as he was sar- 
castically entitled, lost his power, and the aged statesman and 
historian, Louis Thiers, was chosen as chief of the executive depart- 
ment of the new government. 

The treaty of peace with Germany, including, as it did, the loss 
of Alsace and Lorraine and the payment of an indemnity of 
$1,000,000,000, roused once more the fierce passions of the radicals 
and the masses of the great cities, who passionately denounced the 
treaty as due to cowardice and treason. The dethroned emperor 
added to the excitement by a manifesto, in which he protested 
against his deposition by the assembly and called for a fresh elec- 
tion. The final incitement to insurrection came when the Assembly 
decided to hold its sessions at Versailles instead of in Paris, whose 
unruly populace it feared. 

THE COMMUNE OF PARIS 

In a moment all the revolutionary elements of the great city 
were in a blaze. The social democratic "Commune," elected from 
the central committee of the National Guard, renounced obe- 
dience to the government and the National Assembly, and broke 
into open revolt. An attempt to repress the movement merely 
added to its violence, and all the riotous populace of Paris sprang 
to arms. A new war was about to be inaugurated in that city 
which had just suffered so severely from the guns of the Germans, 
and around which German troops were still encamped. 

The government had neglected to take possession of the 
cannon on Montmartre; and now, when the troops of the line, 
instead of firing on the insurrectionists, went over in crowds to 



318 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

their side, the supremacy over Paris fell into the hands of the 
wildest demagogues. A fearful civil war commenced, and in the 
same forts which the Germans had shortly before evacuated firing 
once more resounded; the houses, gardens, and villages around 
Paris were again surrendered to destruction; the creations of art, 
industry, and civilization were endangered, and the abodes of 
wealth and pleasure were transformed into dreary wildernesses. 

The wild outbreaks of fanaticism on the part of the Commune 
recalled the scenes of the revolution of 1789, and in these spring 
days of 1871 Paris added another leaf to its long history of crime 
and violence. The insurgents, roused to fury by the efforts of 
the government to suppress them, murdered two generals, Lecomte 
and Thomas, and fired on the unarmed citizens who, as the "friends 
of order," desired a reconciliation with the authorities at Versailles. 
They formed a government of their own, extorted loans from wealthy 
citizens, confiscated the property of religious societies, and seized 
and held as hostages Archbishop Darboy and many other distin- 
guished clergymen and citizens. 

Meanwhile the investing French troops, led by Marshal Mac- 
Mahon, gradually fought their way through the defenses and into 
the suburbs of the city, and the speedy surrender of the anarchists 
in the capital became inevitable. This necessity excited their 
passions to the most violent extent, and, with the wild fury of 
savages, they set themselves to do all the damage they could to 
the historical monuments of Paris. The noble Vendome column, 
the symbol of the warlike renown of France, was torn down from 
its pedestal and hurled prostrate into the street. The most historic 
buildings in the city were set on fire, and either partially or entirely 
destroyed. Among these were the Tuileries, a portion of the Louvre, 
the Luxembourg, the Palais Royal, the Elysee, etc.; while several 
of the imprisoned hostages, foremost among them Darboy, Arch- 
bishop of Paris, and the universally respected minister Daguerry, 
were shot by the infuriated mob. Such crimes excited the Ver- 
sailles troops to terrible vengeance, when they at last succeeded 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 319 

in repressing the rebellion. They made their way along a bloody 
course; human life was counted as nothing; the streets were stained 
with blood and strewn with corpses, and the Seine once more ran 
red between its banks. When at last the Commune surrendered, 
the judicial courts at Versailles began their work of retribution. 
The leaders and participators in the rebellion who could not save 
themselves by flight were shot by hundreds, confined in fortresses, 
or transported to the colonies. For more than a year the imprison- 
ments, trials, and executions continued, military courts being estab- 
lished which excited the world for months by their wholesale con- 
demnations to exile and to death. The carnival of anarchy was 
followed by one of pitiless revenge. 

INSTABILITY OF THE GOVEKNMENT 

The Republican government of France, which had been 
accepted in an emergency, was far from carrying with it the sup- 
port of the whole of the Assembly or of the people, and the aged, 
but active and keen-witted Thiers had to steer through a medley 
of opposing interests and sentiments. His government was con- 
sidered, alike by the Monarchists and the Jacobins, as only provis- 
ional, and the Bourbons and Napoleonists on the one hand and 
the advocates of "liberty, equality and fraternity" on the other, 
intrigued for its overthrow. But the German armies still remained 
on French soil, pending the payment of the costs of the war; and 
the astute chief of the executive power possessed moderation enough 
to pacify the passions of the people, to restrain their hatred of the 
Germans, which was so boldly exhibited in the streets and in the 
courts of justice, and to quiet the clamor for a war of revenge. 

The position of parties at home was confused and distracted, 
and a disturbance of the existing order could only lead to anarchy 
and civil war. Thiers was thus the indispensable man of the mo- 
ment, and so much was he himself impressed by the consciousness of 
this fact, that many times, by the threat of resignation, he brought 
the opposing elements in the Assembly to harmony and compliance. 



320 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

This occurred even during the siege of Paris, when the forces of 
the government were in conflict with the Commune. In the Assem- 
bly there was shown an inclination to moderate or break through the 
sharp centralization of the government, and to procure some auton- 
omy for the provinces and towns. When, therefore, a new scheme 
was discussed, a large part of the Assembly demanded that the 
mayors should not, as formerly, be appointed by the government, 
but be elected by the town councils. Only with difficulty was 
Thiers able to effect a compromise, on the strength of which the 
government was permitted the right of appointment for all towns 
numbering over twenty thousand. 

In the elections for the councils the Moderate Republicans 
proved triumphant. With a supple dexterity, Thiers knew how 
to steer between the Democratic-Republican party and the Mon- 
archists. When Gambetta endeavored to establish a "league of 
Republican towns," the attempt was forbidden as illegal; and 
when the decree of banishment against the Bourbon and Orleans 
princes was set aside, and the latter returned to France, Thiers 
knew how to postpone the entrance of the Due d'Aumale and 
Prince de Joinville, who had been elected deputies, into the Assembly 
at least until the end of the year. 

THIERS PROCLAIMED PRESIDENT 

The brilliant success of the national loan went far to strengthen 
the position of Thiers. The high offers for a share in this loan, 
which indicated the inexhaustible wealth of the nation and the 
solid credit of France abroad, promised a rapid payment of the war 
indemnity, the consequent evacuation of the country by the Ger- 
man army of occupation, and a restoration of the disturbed finances 
of the state. The foolish manifesto of the Count de Chambord, 
who declared that he had only to return with the white banner to 
be made sovereign of France, brought all practical men to the side 
of Thiers, and he had, during the last days of August, 1871, the tri- 
umph of being proclaimed " President of the French Republic." 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 321 

The new president aimed, next to the liberation of the garri- 
soned provinces from the German troops of occupation, at the reor- 
ganization of the French army. Yet he could not bring himself 
to the decision of enforcing in its entirety the principle of general 
armed service, such as had raised Prussia from a state of depression 
to one of military regeneration. Universal military service in France 
was, it is true, adopted in name, and the army was increased to an 
immense extent, but under such conditions and limitations that 
the richer and more educated classes could exempt themselves from 
service in the army; and thus the active forces, as before, consisted 
of professional soldiers. And when the minister for education, 
Jules Simon, introduced an educational law based on liberal prin- 
ciples, he experienced on the part of the clergy such violent oppo- 
sition that the government dropped the measure. 

In order to place the army in the condition which Thiers 
desired, an increase in the military budget was necessary, and 
consequently an enhancement of the general revenues of the state. 
For this purpose a return to the tariff system, which had been abol- 
ished under the empire, was proposed, but excited so great an 
opposition in the Assembly that six months passed before it could 
be carried. The new organization of the army, undertaken with 
a view of placing France on a level in military strength with her 
late conqueror, was now eagerly undertaken by the president. 
An active army, with five years' service, was to be added to a "terri- 
torial army," a land of militia. And so great was the demand on 
the portion of the nation capable of bearing arms that the new 
French army exceeded in numbers that of any other nation. 

But all the statesmanship of Thiers could not overcome the 
anarchy in the Assembly, where the forces for monarchy and repub- 
licanism were bitterly opposed to each other. Gambetta, in order 
to rouse public opinion in favor of democracy, made several tours 
through the country, his extravagance of language giving deep 
offense to the Monarchists, while the opposed sections of the Assem- 
bly grew wider and more violent in their breach. 



322 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

PUNISHMENT OF THE UNSUCCESSFUL GENEEALS 

Indisputable as were the valuable services which Thiers had 
rendered to France, by the foundation of public order and authority, 
the creation of a regular army, and the restoration of a solid financial 
system, yet all these services met with no recognition in the face 
of the party jealousy and political passions prevailing among the 
people's representatives at Versailles. More and more did the 
Royalist reaction gain ground, and, aided by the priests and by 
national hatred and prejudice, endeavor to bring about the destruc- 
tion of its opponents. Against the Radicals and Liberals, among 
whom even the Voltairean Thiers was included, superstition and 
fanaticism were let loose, and against the Bonapartists was directed 
the terrorism of court-martial. 

The French could not rest with the thought that their mili- 
tary supremacy had been broken by the superiority of the Prusso- 
German arms; their defeats could have proceeded only from the 
treachery or incapacity of their leaders. To this national prejudice 
the Government decided to bow, and to offer a sacrifice to the popu- 
lar passion. And thus the world beheld the lamentable spectacle 
of the commanders who had surrendered the French fortresses to 
the enemy being subjected to a trial by court-martial under the 
presidency of Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers, and the majority of 
them, on account of their proved incapacity or weakness, deprived 
of their military honors, at a moment when all had cause to reproach 
themselves and endeavor to raise up a new structure on the ruins 
of the past. Even Ulrich, the once celebrated commander of 
Strasburg, whose name had been given to a street in Paris, was 
brought under the censure of the court-martial. But the chief 
blow fell upon the commander-in-chief of Metz, Marshal Bazaine, 
to whose "treachery " the whole misfortune of France was attributed. 
For months he was retained a prisoner at Versailles, while prepara- 
tions were made for the great court-martial spectacle, which, in 
the following year, took place under the presidency of the Due 
d'Aumale. 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 323 

MACMAHON A ROYALIST PRESIDENT 

The result of the party division in the Assembly was, in May, 
1873, a vote of censure on the ministry, which induced them to 
resign. Their resignation was followed by an offer of resignation on 
the part of Thiers, who experienced the unexpected slight of having 
it accepted by the majority of the Assembly, the monarchist Mac- 
Mahon, Marshal of France and Duke of Magenta, being elected 
President in his place. Thiers had just performed one of his greatest 
services to France, by paying off the last instalment of the war 
indemnity and relieving the soil of his country of the hated 
German troops. 

The party now in power at once began to lay plans to carry 
out their cherished purpose of placing a Legitimist king upon the 
throne, this honor being offered to the Count de Chambord, grand- 
son of Charles X. He, an old man, unfitted for the thorny seat 
offered him, and out of all accord with the spirit of the times, put 
a sudden end to the hopes of his partisans by his medieval con- 
servatism. Their purpose was to establish a constitutional govern- 
ment, under the tri-colored flag of revolutionary France; but the 
old Bourbon gave them to understand that he would not consent 
to reign under the Tricolor, but must remain steadfast to the white 
banner of his ancestors; he had no desire to be "the legitimate 
king of revolution." 

This letter shattered the plans of his supporters. No man 
with ideas like these would be tolerated on the French throne. 
There was never to be in France a King Henry V. The Monarch- 
ists, in disgust at the failure of their schemes, elected MacMahon 
president of the republic for a term of seven years, and for the time 
being the reign of republicanism in France was made secure. 

While MacMahon was thus being raised to the pinnacle of 
honor, his former comrade Bazaine was imprisoned in another part 
of the palace at Versailles, awaiting trial on the charge of treason 
for the surrender of Metz. In the trial, in which the whole world 
took a deep interest, the efforts of the prosecution were directed to 



324 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

prove that the conquest of France was solely due to the treachery 
of the Bonapartist marshal. Despite all that could be said in his 
defense, he was found guilty by the court-martial, sentenced to 
degradation from his rank in the army, and to death. 

bazaine's sentence and escape 

A letter which Prince Frederick Charles wrote in his favor 
only added to the wrath of the people, who cried aloud for his exe- 
cution. But, as though the judges themselves felt a twinge of 
conscience at the sentence, they at the same time signed a petition 
for pardon to the president of the republic. MacMahon thereupon 
commuted the punishment of death into a twenty years' imprison- 
ment, remitted the disgrace of the formalities of a military degra- 
dation, without canceling its operation, and appointed as the 
prisoner's place of confinement the fortress on the island of St. 
Marguerite, opposite Cannes, known in connection with the "iron 
mask." Bazaine's wealthy Mexican wife obtained permission to 
reside near him, with her family and servants, in a pavilion of the 
sea-fortress. This afforded her an opportunity of bringing about 
the freedom of her husband in the following year with the aid of 
her brother. After an adventurous escape, by letting himself 
down with a rope to a Genoese vessel, Bazaine fled to Holland, and 
then offered his services to the republican government of Spain. 

In 1875 the constitution under which France is now governed 
was adopted by the republicans. It provides for a legislature of 
two chambers; one a chamber of deputies elected by the people, 
the other a senate of 300 members, 75 of whom are elected by the 
National Assembly and the others by electoral colleges in the depart- 
ments of France. The two chambers unite to elect a president, who 
has a term of seven years. He is commander-in-chief of the army, 
appoints all officers, receives all ambassadors, executes the laws, 
and appoints the cabinet, which is responsible to the Senate and 
House of Deputies — thus resembling the cabinet of Great Britain 
instead of that of the United States. 



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THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 325 

This constitution was soon ignored by the arbitrary president, 
who forced the resignation of a cabinet which he could not control, 
and replaced it by another responsible to himself instead of to the 
Assembly. His act of autocracy roused a violent opposition. 
Gambetta moved that the representatives of the people had no con- 
fidence in a cabinet which was not free in its actions and not repub- 
lican in its principles. The sudden death of Thiers, whose last 
writing was a defense of the republic, stirred the heart of the nation 
and added to the excitement, which soon reached fever heat. In 
the election that followed the republicans were in so great a major- 
ity over the conservatives that the president was compelled either 
to resign or to govern according to the constitution. He accepted 
the latter and appointed a cabinet composed of republicans. But 
the acts of the legislature, which passed laws to prevent arbitrary 
action by the executive and to secularize education, so exasperated 
the old soldier that he finally resigned from his high office. 

GREVY, GAMBETTA AND BOULANGER 

Jules Grevy was elected president in his place, and Gambetta 
was made president of the House of Deputies. Subsequently he 
was chosen presiding minister in a cabinet composed wholly of his 
own creatures. His career in this high office was a brief one. The 
Chambers refused to support him in his arbitrary measures and he 
resigned in disgust. Soon after the self-appointed dictator, who had 
played so prominent a part in the war with Germany, died from a 
wound whose origin remained a mystery. 

The constitution was revised in 1884, the republic now declared 
permanent and final, and Grevy again elected president. General 
Boulanger, the minister of war in the new government, succeeded 
in making himself highly popular, many looking upon him as a 
coming Napoleon, by whose genius the republic would be 
overthrown. 

In 1887 Grevy resigned, in consequence of a scandal in high 
circles, and was succeeded by Sadi-Carnot, grandson of a famous 



326 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

general of the first republic. Under the new president two striking 
events took place. General Boulanger managed to lift himself into 
great prominence, and gain a powerful following in France. Carried 
away by self-esteem, he defied his superiors, and when tried and 
found guilty of the offense, was strong enough in France to overthrow 
the ministry, to gain re-election to the Chamber of Deputies, and 
to defeat a second ministry. 

But his reputation was declining. It received a serious blow 
through a duel he fought with a lawyer, in which the soldier was 
wounded and the lawyer escaped unhurt. The next cabinet was 
hostile to his intrigues, and he fled to Brussels to escape arrest. 
Tried by the Senate, sitting as a High Court of Justice, he was 
found guilty of plotting against the state and sentenced to impris- 
onment for life. His career soon after ended in suicide and his 
party disappeared. 

THE PANAMA CANAL SCANDAL 

The second event spoken of was the Panama Canal affair. 
De Lesseps, the maker of the Suez Canal, had undertaken to exca- 
vate a similar one across the Isthmus of Panama, but the work was 
managed with such wild extravagance that vast sums were spent 
and the poor investors widely ruined, while the canal remained a 
half-dug ditch. At a later date this affair became a great scandal, 
dishonest bargains in connection with it were abundantly unearthed, 
bribery was shown to have been common in high places, and France 
was shaken to its center by the startling exposure. De Lesseps, 
fortunately for him, escaped imprisonment by death, but others 
of the leaders in the enterprise were condemned and punished. 

In the succeeding years perils manifold threatened the existence 
of the French Republic. A moral decline seemed to have sapped the 
foundations of public virtue, and the new military organization 
rose to a dangerous height of power, becoming a monster of ambition 
and iniquity which overshadowed and portended evil to the state. 
The spirit of anarchy, which had been so strikingly displayed in the 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 327 

excesses of the Parisian Commune, was shown later in various 
instances of death and destruction by the use of dynamite bombs, 
exploded in Paris and elsewhere. But its most striking example 
was in the murder of President Carnot, who was stabbed by an 
anarchist in the streets of Lyons. This assassination, and the dis- 
heartening exposures of dishonesty in the Panama Canal Case 
trials, stirred the moral sentiment of France to its depths, and made 
many of the best citizens despair of the permanency of the republic. 

DESPOTISM OF THE ARMY LEADERS 

But the most alarming threat came from the army, which had 
grown in power and prominence until it fairly overtopped the state, 
while its leaders felt competent to set at defiance the civil authorities. 
This despotic army was an outgrowth of the Franco-Prussian war. 
The terrible punishment which the French had received in that war, 
and in particular the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, filled them with 
bitter hatred of Germany and a burning desire for revenge. Yet 
it was evident that their military organization was so imperfect 
as to leave them helpless before the army of Germany, and the first 
thing to be done was to place themselves on a level in military 
strength with their foe. To this President Thiers had earnestly 
devoted himself, and the work of army organization went on until 
all France was virtually converted into a great camp, defended by 
powerful fortresses, and the whole male population of the country 
were practically made part of the army. 

The final result of this was the development of one of the most 
complete and well-appointed military establishments in Europe. 
The immediate cause of the reorganization of the army gradually 
passed away. As time went on the intense feeling against Germany 
softened and the danger of war decreased. But the army became 
more and more dominant in France, and, as the century neared 
its end, the autocratic position of its leaders was revealed by a 
startling event, which showed vividly to the world the moral deca- 
dence of France and the controlling influence and dominating power 



328 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

of the members of the General Staff. This was the celebrated 
Dreyfus Case, the cause celebre of the period. At the time con- 
cerned it excited the utmost interest, stirring France to its center, 
and attracting the earnest attention of the world. It aroused indig- 
nation as well as interest, and years passed before it lost its hold on 
public attention. It can be dealt with here only with great brevit}\ 

THE DREYFUS CASE 

Albert Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew and a captain in the Four- 
teenth Regiment of Artillery of the French army, detailed for ser- 
vice at the Information Bureau of the Minister of War, was arrested 
October 15, 1894, on the charge of having sold military secrets to a 
foreign power. The following letter was said to have been found 
at the German embassy by a French detective, in what was declared 
to be the handwriting of Dreyfus: 

"Having no news from you I do not know what to do. I send 
you in the meantime the condition of the forts. I also hand you 
the principal instructions as to firing. If you desire the rest I shall 
have them copied. The document is precious. The instructions 
have been given only to the officers of the General Staff. I leave 
for the maneuvers." 

Previous to the arrest of Dreyfus, the editor of the Libre Parole 
had been carrying on a violent anti-semitic agitation in his paper. 
He now raved about the Jews in general, declared Dreyfus guilty of 
selling army secrets to the Germans, and by his crusade turned 
public opinion in Paris strongly against the accused. 

As a result of this assault and the statement that the letter 
was in the handwriting of the accused, he was tried before a military 
court, which sat behind closed doors, kept parts of the indictment 
from the knowledge of the prisoner and his lawyer, and in other 
ways manifested a lack of fairness. 

As a result of this secret trial the accused was found guilty and 
condemned to be degraded from his military rank, and by a special 
act of the Chamber of Deputies was ordered to be imprisoned for 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 329 

life in a penal settlement on Devil's Island, off the coast of French 
Guiana, a tropical region, desolate and malarious in character. 
The sentence was executed with the most cruel harshness. During 
part of his detention Dreyfus was locked in a hut, surrounded by an 
iron cage, on the island. This was done on the plea of possible 
attempts at rescue. He was allowed to send and receive only such 
letters as had been transcribed by one of his guardians. 

He denied, and never ceased to deny, his guilt. The letters he 
wrote to his counsel after the trial and after his disgrace are most 
pathetic assertions of his innocence, and of the hope that ultimately 
justice would be done him. His wife and family continued to deny 
his guilt, and used every influence to get his case reopened. 

The whole affair in time excited a strong suspicion that Drey- 
fus had been used as a scapegoat for some one higher up and had been 
unjustly condemned, the fact of his being a Jew being used to excite 
prejudice against him. Many eminent literary men of France 
advocated the revision of a sentence which did not appeal to the 
sense of justice of the best element of France. 

It was declared that military secrets continued to leak out 
after Dreyfus' s arrest, and that the handwriting of the letter found 
was closely similar to that of Count Ferdinand Esterhazy, an 
officer-: in the French army, of noble Hungarian descent. This 
matter was so ventilated that some action became necessary and 
Esterhazy was tried secretly by court-martial, the trial ending in 
acquittal. 

At this juncture Emile Zola, the celebrated novelist, stepped 
into the fray as a defender of Dreyfus, writing a notable letter to 
President Faure, in which he accused the members of the court- 
martial of acquitting Esterhazy under order of their chiefs, who 
would not admit that a military court of France could possibly 
make a mistake. 

This letter led to the arrest and trial of Zola and of the editor 
who published it. Their trials were conducted in a secret manner 
and they were found guilty and sentenced to a heavy fine and a 



330 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

year's imprisonment. Zola escaped imprisonment by absenting 
himself from France. 

By this time the interest of the whole world was enlisted in the 
case, the action of the French courts was everywhere condemned, 
and in the end it was deemed advisable to bring Dreyfus back to 
France and accord him a new trial. This trial, which lasted from 
August 7 to September 7, 1899, indicated that he had been convicted 
on the most flimsy and uncertain evidence, largely conjectural in 
character, while there was strong evidence in his favor. Yet the 
judges of the court-martial seemed biased against him, and by a 
vote of three judges to two, he was again found guilty — "of treason, 
with extenuating circumstances," as if treason could be extenuated. 

The whole affair was a transparent travesty upon justice, and 
the method by which it was conducted threw into a strong light 
the faulty character of the French method of trial. The result, 
indeed, was so flagrantly unsatisfactory that no further punishment 
was inflicted upon the accused, and in July, 1906, his case was 
brought before the Court of Appeals, with the result that he was 
acquitted and restored to his rank in the army. 

CHURCH AND STATE 

Later events of interest in French history had to do with the 
status of the Catholic Church in France and with the relations of 
France, Germany and Spain to Morocco, the latter more than once 
threatening war. The union of Church and State in France, which 
had only before been broken during the turbulent period of the 
Revolution, was definitely abrogated by a law of December 19, 
1905, proclaiming the separation of Church and State in that 
country. By this, and a supplementary act in 1907, the Catholic 
Church was put on the same footing in the republic as the Protestant 
and Jewish congregations. The use of church buildings, which had 
been the property of the State since the Revolution, was granted 
only under conditions which the Pope refused to accept, and religious 
liberty made a radical advance in France. 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 331 

THE MOROCCO CONTROVERSY 

Meanwhile troubles had arisen on the borders of Algeria 
between the French army of occupation and the unruly Moroccan 
tribes beyond the boundary. The efforts of France to abate these 
disturbances, which found support in the British government, 
aroused opposition in Germany, which objected to the claim of 
France to a predominant interest in Morocco. The affair went 
so far that Emperor William II visited Tangier, had a conference 
with the representatives of the Sultan, and was reported to have 
agreed to enforce the integrity of Morocco. The friction that 
resulted was allayed by a conference of the Powers held at Algeciras, 
Spain, in 1905, and the trouble was temporarily settled by a series 
of resolutions establishing a number of reforms in Morocco, the 
privileged position of France along the Moroccan-Algerian frontier 
being acknowledged. 

Disturbances continued, however, and the murder of a French 
doctor by the tribesmen in March, 1907, led to the occupation of 
a Moroccan town by French troops. Later in the year a more 
serious affair took place at the port of Casablanca, which was 
raided by insurgent tribesmen and European laborers and others 
were massacred. A French force landed on August 7th and a des- 
perate fight took place, during which nearly every inhabitant of 
the town was killed and wounded or had fled, the dead alone 
numbering thousands. 

In 1911 matters in Morocco grew serious, there being severe 
fighting by Spanish troops in the Spanish concession around Alcazar, 
while tribal outbreaks against Fez, the Sultan's capital, brought 
a French military expedition to that point. By this, communica- 
tion between the capital and the coast was established, the French 
government undertaking to organize the Sultan's army and carry 
out certain works of public improvement. 

These movements revived the suspicions of Germany and that 
country took the decisive step of sending a war vessel to Agadir, a 
southern port of Morocco, with the ostensible purpose of protecting 



332 THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

the persons and property of German subjects. This act led to the 
suspicion in France that Germany meant more than she said and 
that her real purpose was to gain a permanent hold on Moroccan 
territory. There was heated talk of war, as there usually is in such 
cases, but the affair was, in the end, amicably adjusted. 

It became known that France wished to secure a free hand in 
Morocco, outside of the coastal provinces held by Spain, and was 
willing in return to concede to Germany a considerable amount of 
territory in French Congo. The agreement finally reached, with 
the assent of the other Powers, especially Spain, which had a vital 
interest in the problem, was that France should be given a protec- 
torate over Morocco, and in return should cede to Germany a region 
in French Congo, in equatorial Africa, of about 230,000 square 
kilometers, containing a population of from 600,000 to 1,000,000, 
and adjoining the German district of Kamerun, France retaining 
certain transit privileges in the region. 

Thus ended a source of dispute which had more than once 
threatened war. It ended greatly to the advantage of France, 
whose interests in Morocco far outweighed any advantages likely 
to arise from her holdings in central Africa. Behind all this lay the 
probability that her influence in and hold upon Morocco would 
increase until eventually it would develop into a virtual, perhaps 
an actual, sovereignty over that country. 



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CHAPTER XXI 

Great Britain and Her Colonies 

How England Became Mistress of the Seas 

Great Britain as a Colonizing Power — Colonies in the Pacific Region — Colonization 

in Africa — British Colonies in Africa — The Mahdi Rebellion in Egypt — Gordon at 

Khartoum — Suppression of the Mahdi Revolt — Colonization in Asia — The British in 

India — Colonies in America — Development of Canada — Progress in Canada. 

IN the era preceding the nineteenth century Spain, France, and 
Great Britain were the great colonizing Powers, the last 
named being the latest in the field, but rapidly rising to 
become the most important. 

The active Powers in colonization within the nineteenth 
century were the great rivals of the preceding period, Great Britain 
and France, though the former gained decidedly the start, and its 
colonial empire today surpasses that of any other nation of man- 
kind. It is so enormous, in fact, as to dwarf the parent kingdom, 
which is related to its colonial dominion, so far as comparative 
size is concerned, as the small brain of the elephant is related to 
its great body. 

Other Powers, not heard of as colonizers in the past, have 
since come into this field, though too late to obtain any of the 
great prizes. These are Germany and Italy, the latter having 
recently added to its acquisitions by the conquest of Tripoli. But 
there is a great Power still to name, which in its way stands as a 
rival to Great Britain, the empire of Russia, whose acquisitions in 
4sia have grown enormously in extent. These are not colonies in 
the ordinary sense, but rather results of the expansion of an empire 
through warlike aggression. Yet they are colonial in the sense of 
absorbing the excess population of European Russia. The great 
territory of Siberia was gained by Russia before the nineteenth 

(333) 



334 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

century, though within recent years the Russian dominion in Asia 
has greatly increased, and has now become enormous, extending 
from the Arctic Ocean to the borders of Afghanistan, Persia and 
the Asiatic empire of Turkey. 

GEEAT BRITAIN AS A COLONIZING POWER 

With this preliminary review we may proceed to consider the 
history of colonization within the recent period. And first we 
must take up the results of the colonial enterprise of Great Britain, 
as much the most important of the whole. In addition to Hindu- 
stan, in which the dominion of Great Britain now extends to 
Afghanistan and Thibet in the north, the British acquisitions in 
Asia now include Burmah and the west-coast region of Indo-China, 
with the Straits Settlements in the Malay peninsula, and the 
island of Ceylon, acquired in 1802 from Holland. 

In the eastern seas Great Britain possesses another colony of 
vast dimensions, the continental island of Australia, which, with 
its area of nearly 3,000,000 square miles, is three-fourths the size 
of Europe. The first British settlement was made here in 1788, 
at Port Jackson, the site of the present thriving city of Sydney, 
and the island was long maintained as a penal settlement, convicts 
being sent there as late as 1868. It was the discovery of gold in 
185 Lto which Australia owed its great progress. The incitement 
of the yellow metal drew the enterprising thither by thousands, until 
the population of the colony is now more than 4,000,000, and 
is still growing at a rapid rate. There are other valuable 
resources besides that of gold. Of its cities, Melbourne, the 
capital of Victoria, with its suburbs, has more than 500,000 popula- 
tion; Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, 600,000, while 
there are other cities of rapid growth. Australia is the one impor- 
tant British colony obtained without a war. In its human beings, 
as in its animals generally, it stood at a low level of development, 
and it was taken possession of without a protest from the savage 
inhabitants. 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 335 

COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC REGION 

The same cannot be said of the inhabitants of New Zealand, 
an important group of islands lying southeast of Australia, which was 
acquired by Great Britain as a colony in 1840. The Maoris, as 
the people of these islands call themselves, are of the bold and 
sturdy Polynesian race, a brave, generous, and warlike people, 
who have given their new lords and masters no little trouble. 
A series of wars with the natives began in 1843 and continued 
until 1869, since which time the colony has enjoyed peace. It can 
have no more trouble with the Maoris, since there are said to be 
few more Maoris. They have vanished before the "white man's 
face." At present this colony is one of the most advanced 
politically of any region on the face of the earth, so far as attention 
to the interests of the masses of the people is concerned, and its 
laws and regulations offer a useful object lesson to the remainder 
of the world. 

In addition to those great island dominions in the Pacific, 
Great Britain possesses the Fiji Islands, the northern part of Borneo, 
and a large section of the extensive island of Papua or New Guinea, 
the remainder of which is held by Holland and Germany. In addi- 
tion there are various coaling stations on the islands and coasts 
of Asia. In the Mediterranean its possessions are Gibraltar, Malta 
and Cyprus, and in America the great colony of Canada, a consider- 
able number of the islands of the West Indies, and the districts of 
British Honduras and British Guiana. 

The history of colonization in two of the continents, Asia and 
Africa, presents certain features of singularity. Though known 
from the most ancient times, while America was quite unknown 
until four centuries ago, the striking fact presents itself that at an 
early date in the nineteenth century the continents of North and 
South America had been largely explored from coast to center, while 
the interior of Asia and Africa remained in great part unknown. 
This fact in regard to Asia was due to the hostile attitude of its 
people, which rendered it dangerous for any European traveler 



336 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

to attempt to penetrate its interior. In the case of Africa it was due 
to the inhospitality of nature, which had placed the most serious 
obstacles in the way of those who sought to enter it beyond the 
coast regions. This state of affairs continued until the latter half 
of the century, within which period there was a remarkable change 
in the aspect of affairs, both continents being penetrated in all 
directions and their walls of isolation completely broken down. 

COLONIZATION IN AFRICA 

Africa is not only now well known, but the exploration of its 
interior has been followed by political changes of the most revolu- 
tionary character. It presented a virgin field for colonization, of 
which the land-hungry nations of Europe hastened to avail them- 
selves, dividing up the continent between them until, by the end 
of the century, the partition of Africa was practically complete. 
It is one of the most remarkable circumstances in history that a 
well-known continent remained thus so long unexplored to serve 
in our own days as a new field for the outpouring of the nations. 
The occupation of Africa by Europeans, indeed, began earlier. 
The Arabs had held the section north of the Sahara for many cen- 
turies, Portugal claimed — but scarcely occupied — large sections east 
and west, and the Dutch had a thriving settlement in the south. 
But the exploration and division of the bulk of the continent waited 
for the nineteenth century, and the greater part of the work of 
partition took place within the final quarter of that century. 

In this work of colonization Great Britain and France stand 
foremost in energy and success. Today the British possessions and 
protectorates in Africa embrace 2,132,840 square miles; or, if we 
add Egypt and the Egyptian Soudan — practically British territory — 
the area occupied or claimed amounts to 2,446,040 square miles. 
The claims of France, including a large area of the Sahara desert, 
are much larger, covering 4,000,000 square miles. Germany lays 
claim to 930,000; Italy, to 591,000; Portugal, to 800,000; Spain, 
to 86,600; the Congo Free State, to 800,000; and Turkey to the 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 337 

363,200 square miles of Egypt. The parts of Africa unoccupied 
or unclaimed by Europeans are a portion of the Desert of Sahara, 
which no one wants; Abyssinia, still independent; Morocco, a 
French protectorate; and Liberia, a state over which rests the 
shadow of protection of the United States. 

BEITISH COLONIES IN AFRICA 

Of the British colonial possessions in Africa the most important 
is that in the far south, extending now from Cape Town to Lake 
Tanganyika, and including an immense area replete with natural 
resources and capable of sustaining a very large population. This 
region, originally settled in the Cape Town region by the Dutch, 
was acquired by the British as a result of an European war. Sub- 
sequently the Boers — descendants of the Dutch settlers — made their 
way north, beyond the British jurisdiction, and founded the new 
colonies of the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State. 
The British of Cape Town at a later date followed them north, 
settling Natal, defeating the Zulu blacks and acquiring new terri- 
tory, and eventually coming into hostile contact with the Boers. 

Defeated at first by the latter, a war of conquest broke out in 
1899, ending in 1902 with the overthrow of the Boer republics, after 
a brave and vigorous resistance on their part. Under the ambitious 
leadership of Cecil Rhodes and others, British dominion in South 
Africa was extended northward over the protectorates of Rhodesia 
and Basutoland, reaching, as stated, as far north as Lake Tanganyika 
and embracing an area of about 1,300,000 square miles. Other 
British colonial possessions in that continent include the large 
province of British East Africa, covering 520,000 square miles, 
a large area in Somaliland and possessions on the west coast of 
150,000 square miles area. To these, in a minor sense of possession, 
should be added Egypt, now extending to British East Africa. 

We have mentioned the respective regions held by other 
European nations in Africa, France surpassing Great Britain in 
colonial area though not in population. Among the French African 

32 



338 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

possessions are included the great island of Madagascar, lying off 
the east coast of the continent. Mention should be made here of 
the extensive and promising Congo Free State, under the suzerainty 
of Belgium. Covering eight hundred thousand square miles, it 
comprises the populous and richly agricultural center of Africa, 
its vast extension of navigable waters yielding communication 
through its every part. 

The occupation of Africa, at least that part of it which became 
British territory, was not consummated without hostile activities. 
The most recent of these was the long war between the Boer and 
British armies, the final success being a costly and not very profit- 
able triumph of the British arms. Of other hostile relations may 
be mentioned the invasion of Abyssinia by a British army in 1867, 
the suppression of the revolt of Arabi Pasha in 1879, and the series 
of events arising from the Mahdist outbreak in 1880. 

THE MAHDI REBELLION IN EGYPT 

The latter events call for some mention; and need to be pre- 
ceded by a statement of how Britain became dominant in Egypt. 
That country had broken loose in large measure from the rule of 
Turkey during the reign of the able and ambitious Mehemet Ali, 
who was made viceroy in 1840. In 1876 the independence of Egypt 
was much increased, and its rulers were given the title of khedive, 
or king. The powers of the khedives steadily increased, and in 
1874-75 Ismail Pasha greatly extended the Egyptian territory, 
annexing the Soudan as far as Darfur, and finally to the shores of 
the lately discovered Victoria Nyanza. Egj^pt thus embraced the 
valley of the Nile practically to its source, presenting an aspect 
of immense length and great narrowness. 

Soon after, the finances of the country became so involved that 
they were placed under European control, and the growth of English 
and French influence led to the revolt of Arabi Pasha. This was 
repressed by Great Britain, which bombarded Alexandria and 
defeated the Egyptians, France taking no part. As a result the 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 339 

co-ordinate influence of France ended, and Great Britain was left as 
the practical ruler of Egypt, which position she still maintains. 

In 1880 began an important series of events. A Mohammedan 
prophet arose in the Soudan, claiming to be the Mahdi, a Messiah 
of the Mussulmans. A large body of devoted believers soon gathered 
around him, and he set up an independent sultanate in the desert, 
defeating four Egyptian expeditions sent against him, and cap- 
turing El Obeid, the chief city of Kordofan, which he made his 
capital in 1883. 

The effort to subdue the outbreak proved a long and arduous 
one, and was accomplished only after many years and much loss to 
the British and Egyptian forces. No time was lost in sending an 
army against the fanatical Arabs. This was led by an English 
officer known as Hicks Pasha. He fell into a Mahdist ambush at 
El Obeid, and after a desperate struggle, lasting three days, his 
force was almost completely annihilated, Hicks being the last to die. 
Very few of his men escaped to tell the tale of their defeat. 

Other expeditions of Egyptian troops sent against Osman 
Digna ("Osman the Ugly"), a lieutenant of the Mahdi, similarly 
met with defeat, and the Mahdists invested and besieged the towns 
of Sinkat and Tokar. 

To relieve these towns, Baker Pasha, a daring and able British 
leader, was sent with a force of 3,650 men. Unfortunately, his 
troops were mainly Egyptian, and the result of preceding expeditions 
had inspired these with a more than wholesome fear of the Mah- 
dists. They met a party of the latter, only about 1,200 strong, at 
a point south of Suakim, on the Red Sea. Instantly the Egyptians 
broke into a panic of terror and were surrounded and butchered in 
a frightful slaughter. 

"Inside the square," said an eye-witness, "the state of affairs 
was almost indescribable. Cavalry, infantry, mules, camels, 
falling baggage and dying men were crushed into a struggling, 
surging mass. The Egyptians were shrieking madly, hardly at- 
tempting to run away, but trying to shelter themselves one behind 



340 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

another." "The conduct of the Egyptians was simply disgraceful," 
said another officer. "Armed with rifle and bayonet, they allowed 
themselves to be slaughtered, without an effort at self-defense, by 
savages inferior to them in numbers and armed only with spears 
and swords." 

Baker and his staff officers, seeing affairs were hopeless, charged 
the enemy and cut their way through to the shore, but of the total 
force two- thirds were left dead or wounded on the field. Such 
was the "massacre" of El Teb, which was followed four days 
afterwards by the capture of Sinkat and slaughter of its garrison. 

To avenge this butchery, General Graham was sent from Cairo 
with reinforcements of British troops. These advanced upon 
Osman and defeated him in two engagements, the last a crushing 
one, in which the British lost only 200 men, while the Arab loss, 
in killed alone, numbered over 2,000. 

GORDON AT KHARTOUM 

These events took place in 1884 and in the same year General 
Charles Gordon — the famous Chinese Gordon — ascended the Nile 
to Khartoum, to relieve the Egyptian garrison of that city. He 
failed in this, the Arabs of the Soudan flocking to the standard of 
the Mahdi in such multitudes that Khartoum was cut off from all 
communication with the north, leaving Gordon and the garrison 
in a position of dire peril. 

It became necessary to send an expedition for their relief, 
this being led by Lord Wolseley, the hero of the Zulu and Ashanti 
wars. This advanced in two sections, a desert and a river column. 
Two furious attacks were made by the Mahdi sts on the desert 
troops, both being repulsed with heavy loss. On reaching the river, 
they proceeded in steamers which Gordon had sent down the Nile 
to meet them. But there was unavoidable delay, and when the 
vicinity of Khartoum was reached, on January 28, 1885, it was 
learned that the town had been taken and Gordon killed two days 
before. All his men, 4,000 in number, were killed with him. 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 341 

SUPPRESSION OF THE MAHDI REVOLT 

After this misfortune the Arabs were left in possession for nearly 
twelve years, no other expedition being sent until 1896, while it was 
not until 1898 that the Anglo-Egyptian forces reached the vicinity of 
Khartoum. They were commanded by General Kitchener, one of 
the ablest of British soldiers. His men were well drilled and very 
different in character from those led by Baker Pasha. They met 
the Arabs at Omdurman, near Khartoum, and gave them a crushing 
defeat, more than 10,000 of them falling, while the British loss was 
only about 200. This ended the Arab resistance and the Soudan 
was restored to Egypt, fourteen years after it had been taken by the 
Mahdi. 

Brief mention of the holdings of other nations in Africa must 
suffice. Germany has large areas in East Africa and Southwest 
Africa, with smaller holdings elsewhere. The possessions of France 
extend from Algeria and Tunis southward over the Sahara and 
the Soudan, with holdings on the east and west coasts. Por- 
tugal has large, feebly held districts in the south-central coast 
region, and Italy holds small districts on the Red Sea and Somaliland 
and the recently acquired Tripoli. Spain's holdings are on the 
coast of Morocco and the Sahara. 

COLONIZATION IN ASIA 

The colonizing enterprise in Asia within recent years has been 
conlined to Great Britain, France and Russia, which nations have 
gained large possessions in that great continent. Russia has made 
its way during several centuries of conquest over Siberia and Cen- 
tral Asia, until its immense possessions have encroached upon Persia 
and Afghanistan in the south and China in the east. At present, 
while the dominion of Russia in Europe comprises about 2,000,000 
square miles, that in Asia is more than 6,500,000 square miles, the 
total area of this colossal empire being more than equal in area to 
the entire continent of North America. 

The possessions of other nations in Asia are, aside from small 



342 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

holdings on the Chinese coast, in the south of that continent. Hol- 
land has a group of rich islands in the Indian Ocean, Portugal some 
small holdings, and France a large area in Indo-China, gained by 
invasion and conquest. This includes Cambodia, Cochin-China 
and Tonquin, won by hard fighting since 1862. 

Great Britain, in addition to the extensive peninsula of India, 
with the neighboring rich island of Ceylon, has of late years acquired 
the fertile plains of Burmah, now included in its Empire of India, 
the whole covering an area of nearly 2,000,000 square miles. Its 
other Asiatic possessions include Hong Kong, in China; the Straits 
Settlements and other Malay states; Borneo and Sarawak, and 
Aden and Socotra, in Arabia. 

THE BRITISH IN INDIA 

The British control of India began with the founding of commer- 
cial settlements early in the seventeenth century. Areas of land 
were gradually acquired, and rivalry began later between England 
and France for the control of Indian territory. The power of the 
British East India Company in India was largely extended by the 
military operations of the famous Lord Clive, and under Warren 
Hastings, a later governor of unscrupulous character, received new 
accessions. 

During the nineteenth century many accessions of territory 
were made, the one threat to British dominion in the peninsula 
being the great Sepoy rebellion, or Indian Mutiny, which needed 
all the resources of the Company to overcome. The most impor- 
tant event that succeeded was the taking over the powers of govern- 
ment, so far exercised by the East India Company, and vesting 
them in the Crown, which assumed full control of the now immense 
holdings of the Company. Subsequently came the raising of India 
to the dignity of an empire, and the adding to the title of Queen 
Victoria the further title of Empress of India. Since that period 
the establishment of British dominion in India has become almost 
complete, extending to the Himalayas in the north, and over 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 343 

Baluchistan in the west and Burmah in the east. As a result 
India, Canada and Australia have become the great trio of semi- 
continental British colonial possessions, India being far the richest 
and most populous of them all. 

COLONIES IN AMERICA 

We have next to deal with the British colonial possessions in 
America, including the great Dominion of Canada and Newfound- 
land, and the minor holdings of British Guiana, British Honduras, 
and the several islands of Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbadoes, the 
Bahamas and the Bermudas. Of these Canada is the only one 
that calls for notice here. 

Occupying the northern section of the western hemisphere lies 
Great Britain's most extended colony, the vast Dominion of Canada, 
which covers an immense area of the earth's surface, surpassing 
that of the United States, and nearly equal to the whole of Europe. 
Its population, however, is not in accordance with its dimensions, 
though of late it is growing rapidly, being now over 7,000,000. 
The bleak and inhospitable character of much the greater part of 
its area is likely to debar this region from ever having any other 
than a scanty nomad population, fur animals being its principal 
useful product. It is, however, always unsafe to predict. The 
recent discovery of gold in a part of this region, that traversed by 
the Klondike River, has brought miners by the thousands to that 
wintry realm, and it would be very unwise to declare that the remain- 
der of the great northern region contains no treasures for the crav- 
ing hands of man. So far as the fertile regions of Manitoba, Alberta 
and Saskatchewan are concerned, the recent demonstration of their 
great availability as wheat-producing territory has added immensely 
to our conception of the national wealth of Canada, which promises 
to become one of the great wheat-growing regions of the earth. 

First settled by the French in the seventeenth century, this 
country came under British control in 1763, as a result of the great 
struggle between the two active colonizing powers for dominion in 



344 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

America. The outcome of this conquest is the fact that Canada, 
like the other colonies of Great Britain, possesses a large alien popu- 
lation, in this case of French origin. 

DEVELOPMENT OP CANADA 

At the opening of the nineteenth century the population of 
Canada was small, and its resources were only slightly developed. 
Its people did not reach the million mark until about 1840, though 
after that date the tide of immigration flowed thither with consid- 
erable strength and the population grew with some rapidity. In 
1791 the original province of Quebec had been divided into Upper 
and Lower Canada, a political separation which by no means gave 
satisfaction, but led to severe political conflicts. As a result an 
act of union took place, the provinces being reunited in 1840. 

Upper Canada, at the opening of the eighteenth century, was 
only slightly developed, the country being a vast forest, without 
towns, without roads, and practically shut out from the remainder 
of the world. The sparse population endured much suffering, which, 
hi 1788, deepened into a destructive famine, long remembered as a 
terrible visitation. But it began to grow with the new century, 
numbers crossed the Niagara River from the States to the fertile 
lands beyond, immigrants crossed the waters from Great Britain and 
France, Toronto was made the capital city, and the population of the 
province soon rose to 30,000 in number. Lower Canada, however, 
with its old cities of Quebec and Montreal, and its flourishing settle- 
ments along the St. Lawrence River, continued the most populous 
section of the country, though its people were almost exclusively 
of French origin. The strength of the British population lay in the 
upper province. % 

In time the confederation which existed between the two larger 
provinces of Canada became unfitted to serve the purposes of 
the entire colony. The maritime provinces began to discuss the 
question of local federation, and it was finally proposed to unite 
all British North America into one general union. This was done 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 345 

in 1867, the British Parliament passing an act which created the 
"Dominion of Canada." The new confederation included Ontario 
(Upper Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), New Brunswick and 
Nova Scotia. Four years later Manitoba and British Columbia 
were included, and Prince Edward's Island in 1874. Since then 
other additions have been made. A parliament was formed con- 
sisting of a Senate of life members chosen by the prime minister 
and an Assembly elected by the people. 

The important questions which have arisen in Canada since 
the dates above given have had largely to do with its relations to 
the United States and its people. One of the most troublesome of 
these was that relating to the productive fisheries on the banks of 
Newfoundland and the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. 
For years the problem of the rights of American fishermen in these 
regions excited controversy. Several partial settlements have been 
made and in 1877 the sum of $15,000,000 was awarded to Great 
Britain in payment for the privileges granted to the United States. 
A treaty was signed in 1888 for the settlement of this vexatious 
question, and in 1912 a decision of The Hague tribunal decided 
it to the satisfaction of both parties. 

The discovery of gold on the Klondike River in 1896 developed 
another problem, that of the true boundary between Alaska and 
Canada. At first, under the belief that the gold region was in 
Alaska, it brought a rush of American miners to that region. But 
it was soon found that the mining region was in Canada and the 
nuning laws imposed by the Canadian authorities were bitterly 
objected to by the American miners. The question of boundary 
has since been definitely settled and the present boundary line 
marked out by a scientific commission. 

The industrial development of the country within recent years 
has been great. Agriculturally the development of the fertile 
wheat fields of the middle west is of the most promising character, 
while railway progress has been highly encouraging. The building 
of the Canadian Pacific Railway was a remarkable enterprise at 



346 GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

the time of its construction. Recently Canada is approaching 
a position of rivalry with the United States in this particular, a 
new transcontinental line, the Grand Trunk Pacific, having been com- 
pleted in 1914, while the Canadian Northern is rapidly progressing. 

PROGRESS IN CANADA 

Railways have spread like a network over the rich agricultural 
territory along the southern border land of the Dominion, from ocean 
to ocean, and are now pushing into the deep forest land and rich 
mineral and agricultural regions of the interior and the northwest, 
their total length in 1914 approaching 30,000 miles. 

These roads have been built largely under different forms of 
government aid, such as land grants, cash subsidies, loans, the 
issue of debentures, and the guarantee of bonds of interest. 

In manufacturing industry almost every branch of production 
is to be found, the progressive enterprise of the people of the 
Dominion being great, and a large proportion of the goods they need 
being made at home. The best evidence of the enterprise of Canada 
in manufacture is shown by the fact that she exports many thousand 
dollars worth of goods annually more than she buys — England 
being her largest customer and the United States second on the list. 

Not only is the outside world largely ignorant of the importance 
of Canada, but many of her own people fail to realize the greatness 
of the country they possess. Its area of more than three and one- 
half millions of square miles — one-sixteenth of the entire land sur- 
face of the earth — is great enough to include an immense variety 
of natural conditions and products. This area constitutes forty 
per cent of the far extended British empire, while its richness of soil 
and resources in forest and mineral wealth are as yet almost 
untouched, and its promise of future yield is immense. The dimen- 
sions of the dominion guarantee a great variety of natural attrac- 
tions. There are vast grass-covered plains, thousands of square 
miles of untouched forest lands, multitudes of lakes and rivers, great 
and small, and mountains of the wildest and grandest character, 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 347 

whose natural beauty equals that of the far-famed Alpine peaks. 
In fact, the Canadian Pacific Railway is becoming a route of pil- 
grimage for the lovers of the beautiful and sublime, its mountain 
scenery being unrivaled upon the continent. 

In several conditions the people of Canada, while preserving 
the general features of English society, are much more free and 
untrammeled. The caste system of Great Britain has gained little 
footing in this new land, where nearly every farmer is the owner 
of the soil which he tills, and the people have a feeling of indepen- 
dence unknown to the agricultural population of European coun- 
tries. There has been great progress also in many social questions. 
The liquor traffic, for instance, is subject to the local option restric- 
tion; religious liberty prevails; education is practically free and 
unsectarian; the franchise is enjoyed by all citizens; members of 
the parliament are paid for their services; and though the executive 
department of the government is under the control of a governor- 
general appointed by the Crown, the laws of Canada are made by 
its own statesmen, and a state of practical independence prevails. 
Recognizing this, and respecting the liberty-loving spirit of the 
people, Great Britain is chary in interfering with any question of 
Canadian policy, or in any sense in attempting to limit the freedom 
of her great transatlantic colony. 



CHAPTER XXII 

The Open Door in China and Japan 

Development of World Power in the East 

Warlike Invasions of China — Commodore Perry and His Treaty — Japan's Rapid 
Progress — Origin of the China-Japan War — The Position of Korea — Li Hung Chang 
and the Empress — How Japan Began War — The Chinese and Japanese Fleets — The 
Battle of the Yalu — Preparing for Battle — How the Ships* Fought — Perils of the Com- 
manders — Capture of Wei Hai Wei — Europe Invades China — The Boxer Outbreak — 
Russian Designs in Manchuria — Japan Begins War on Russia — The Aimies Meet — 
Port Arthur Taken — Russian Fleet Defeated — China Becomes a Republic. 

ASIA, the greatest of the continents and the seat of the 
/-% earliest civilizations, yields us the most remarkable phenom- 
enon in the history of mankind. In remote ages, while 
Europe lay plunged in the deepest barbarism, certain sections of 
Asia were marked by surprising activity in thought and progress. 
In three far-separated regions — China, India, and Babylonia — 
and in a fourth on the borders of Asia — Egypt — civilization rose 
and flourished for ages, while the savage and the barbarian roamed 
over all other regions of the earth. A still more extraordinary fact 
is, that during the more recent era, that of European civilization, 
Asia rested in the most sluggish conservatism, sleeping while 
Europe and America were actively moving, content with its ancient 
knowledge while the people of the West were pursuing new knowl- 
edge into its most secret lurking places. 

And this conservatism seemed an almost immovable one. 
For a century England has been pouring new thought and new 
enterprise into India, yet the Hindus cling stubbornly to their 
remotely ancient beliefs and customs, though they show some 
signs of a political awakening. For half a century Europe has been 
hammering upon the gates of China, but not until recently did 
this sleeping nation show any signs of waking to the fact that the 

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THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 349 

world was moving around it. As regards the other early civiliza- 
tions — Babylonia and Egypt — they long ago were utterly swamped 
under the tide of Turkish barbarism and exist only in their ruins. 
Persia, once a great and flourishing empire, likewise sank under 
the flood of Arabian and Turkish invasion, and today seems in 
danger of being swallowed up in the tide of Russian and British 
ambition. Such was the Asia upon which the nineteenth century 
dawned, and such it remains in some measure today, though in 
parts of its vast area modern civilization has gained a firm foothold. 
This is especially the case with the island empire of Japan, a 
nation the people of which are closely allied in race to those of China, 
yet who have displayed a greater progressiveness and a marked 
readiness to avail themselves of the resources of modern civilization. 
The development of Japan has taken place within a brief period. 
Previous to that time it was as resistant to western influences as 
China continued until a later date. They were both closed nations, 
prohibiting the entrance of modern ideas and peoples, proud of 
their own form of civilization and their own institutions, and sternly 
resolved to keep out the disturbing influences of the restless West. 
As a result, they remained locked against the new civilization until 
after the nineteenth century was well advanced, and China's 
disposition to avail itself of the results of modern invention was not 
manifested until the century was near its end. 

WAELIKE INVASION OF CHINA 

China, with its estimated population of 300,000,000, attained 
to a considerable measure of civilization at a very remote period, 
but until very recently made almost no progress during the Chris- 
tian era, being content to retain its old ideas, methods and insti- 
tutions, which its people looked upon as far superior to those of 
the western nations. Great Britain gained a foothold in China 
as early as the seventeenth century, but the persistent attempt 
to flood the country with the opium of India, in disregard of the 
laws of the land, so angered the emperor that he had the opium 



350 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

of the British stores at Canton, worth $20,000,000, seized and 
destroyed. This led to the "Opium War" of 1840, in which China 
was defeated and was forced in consequence to accept a much 
greater degree of intercourse with the world, five ports being made 
free to the world's commerce and Hong Kong ceded to Great Britain. 
In 1856 an arbitrary act of the Chinese authorities at Canton, in 
forcibly boarding a British vessel in the Canton River, led to a 
new war, in which the French joined the British and the allies 
gained fresh concessions from China. In 1859 the war was renewed, 
and Peking was occupied by the British and French forces in 1860, 
the emperor's summer palace being destroyed. 

These wars had their effect in largely breaking down the Chinese 
wall of seclusion and opening the empire more fully to foreign 
trade and intercourse, and also in compelling the emperor to receive 
foreign ambassadors at his court in Peking. In this the United 
States was among the most successful of the nations, from the 
fact that it had always maintained friendly relations with China. 
In 1876 a short railroad was laid, and in 1877 a telegraph line was 
established. During the remainder of the century the telegraph 
service was widely extended, but the building of railroads was 
strongly opposed by the government, and not until the century 
had reached its end did the Chinese awaken to the importance of 
this method of transportation. They did, however, admit steam 
traffic to their rivers, and purchased some powerful ironclad naval 
vessels in Europe. 

COMMODORE PERRY AND HIS TREATY 

The isolation of Japan was maintained longer than that of 
China, trade with that country being of less importance, and 
foreign nations knowing and caring less about it. The United 
States has the credit of breaking down its long and stubborn 
seclusion and setting in train the remarkably rapid development 
of the island empire. In 1854 Commodore Perry appeared with 
an American fleet in the bay of Yeddo, and, by a show of force 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 351 

and a determination not to be rebuffed, he induced the author- 
ities to make a treaty of commercial intercourse with the United 
States. Other nations quickly demanded similar privileges, and 
Japan's obstinate resistance to foreign intercourse was at an end. 
The result of this was revolutionary in Japan. For centuries 
the Shogun, or Tycoon, the principal military noble, had been 
dominant in the empire, and the Mikado, the true emperor, rele- 
gated to a position of obscurity. But the entrance of foreigners 
disturbed conditions so greatly — by developing parties for and 
against seclusion — that the Mikado was enabled to regain his 
long-lost power, and in 1868 the ancient form of government was 
restored, the nobles being relegated to their original rank and 
their semi-feudal system overthrown. 

japan's rapid progress 

The Japanese quickly began to show a striking activity in the 
acceptance of the results of western civilization, alike in regard 
to objects of commerce, inventions, and industries, and to political 
organization. The latter advanced so rapidly that in 1889 the 
old despotic government was, by the voluntary act of the emperor, 
set aside and a limited monarchy established, the country being 
given a constitution and a legislature, with universal suffrage for 
all men over twenty-five. This act is of remarkable interest, it 
being doubtful if history records any similar instance of a monarch 
decreasing his authority without appeal or pressure from his people. 
It indicates a liberal spirit that could hardly have been looked 
for in a nation that had so recently opened its doors. It was, 
however, probably the result of a previous compact with the nobles 
who aided the Mikado to regain his throne. Today, Japan differs 
little from the nations of Europe and America in its institutions and 
industries, and from being among the most backward, has taken its 
place among the most advanced nations of the world. 

The Japanese army has been organized upon the European 
system, and armed with the most modern style of weapons, the 



352 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

German method of drill and organization being adopted. Its 
navy consists of about two hundred war vessels, built in the dock- 
yards of Europe and America, or captured in its two recent 
wars, while a number of more powerful ships are in process of 
building. Railroads have been widely extended; telegraphs run 
everywhere; education is in an advancing stage of development, 
embracing an imperial university at Tokio, and institutions in which 
foreign languages and science are taught; and in a hundred ways 
Japan is progressing at a rate which is one of the greatest marvels 
of the twentieth century. This is particularly notable in view of the 
longer adherence maintained by the neighboring empire of China 
to its old customs, and the slowness with which it yielded to the 
influx of new ideas. 

ORIGIN OF THE CHINA-JAPAN WAR 

As a result of this difference in progress between the two nations 
we have to describe a remarkable event, one of the most striking 
evidences that could be given of the practical advantage of modern 
civilization. Near the end of the century war broke out between 
China and Japan, and there was shown to the world the singular 
circumstance of a nation of 40,000,000 people, armed with modern 
implements of war, attacking a nation of 300,000,000 — equally 
brave, but with its army organized on an ancient system — and 
defeating it as quickly and completely as Germany defeated France 
in the Franco-German War. This war, which represents a com- 
pletely new condition of affairs in the continent of Asia, is of 
sufficient interest and importance to speak of at some length. 

Between China and Japan lay the kingdom of Korea, separated 
by rivers from the former and by a strait of the ocean from the 
latter, and claimed as a vassal state by both, yet preserving its 
independence as a state against the pair. Japan invaded this coun- 
try at two different periods in the past, but failed to conquer it. 
China has often invaded it, with the same result. Thus it remained 
practically independent until near the end of the nineteenth 



THE OPEN; DOOR IN CTINA AND JAPAN 353 

century, when the question of predominance in it became a cause 
of war between the two rival empires. 

Korea long pursued the same policy as China and Japan, 
locking its ports against foreigners so closely that it became known 
as the Hermit Nation and the Forbidden Land. But it was forced 
to give way, like its neighbors. The opening of Korea was due to 
Japan. In 1876 the Japanese did to this secluded kingdom what 
Commodore Perry had done to Japan twenty-two years before. 
They sent a fleet to Seoul, the Korean capital, and by threat of war 
forced the government to open to trade the port of Fusan. In 
1880 Chemulpo was made an open port. Later on the United 
States sent a fleet there which obtained similar privileges. Soon 
afterwards most of the nations of Europe were admitted to trade, 
and the isolation of the Hermit Nation was at an end. Less than 
ten years had sufficed to break down an isolation which had lasted 
for centuries. In less than twenty years after — in the year 1899 — 
an electric trolley railway was put in operation in the streets of 
Seoul — a remarkable evidence of the great change in Korean policy. 

THE POSITION OF KOREA 

Korea was no sooner opened to foreign intercourse than China 
and Japan became rivals for influence in that country — a rivalry 
in which Japan showed itself the more active. The Koreans became 
divided into two factions, a progressive one that favored Japan, 
and a conservative one that favored China. Japanese and Chinese 
soldiers were landed upon its soil, and the Chinese aided their party, 
which was in ascendency among the Koreans, to drive out the 
Japanese troops. War was threatened, but it was averted by a 
treaty in 1885 under which both nations agreed to withdraw their 
troops and to send no officers to drill the Korean soldiers. 

The war, thus for the time averted, came nine years afterwards, 
in consequence of an insurrection in Korea. The people of that 
country were discontented. They were oppressed with taxes and 
by tyranny, and in 1894 the followers of a new religious sect broke 

23 



354 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

out in open revolt. Their numbers rapidly increased until they were 
20,000 strong, and they defeated the government troops, captured 
a provincial city, and put the capital itself in danger. The Min 
(or Chinese) faction was then at the head of affairs in the kingdom 
and called for aid from China, which responded by sending some 
two thousand troops and a number of war vessels to Korea. Japan, 
jealous of any such action on the part of China, responded by sur- 
rounding Seoul with soldiers, several thousands in number. 

Disputes followed. China claimed to be suzerain of Korea 
and Japan denied it. Both parties refused to withdraw their 
troops, and the Japanese, finding that the party in power was acting 
against them, advanced on the capital, drove out the officials, and 
took possession of the palace and the king. A new government, 
made up of the party that favored Japan, was organized, and a 
revolution was accomplished in a day. The new authorities declared 
that the Chinese were intruders and requested the aid of the 
Japanese to expel them. War was close at hand. 

LI HUNG CHANG AND THE EMPRESS 

China was at that time under the leadership of a statesman 
of marked ability, the famous Li Hung Chang, who, from being 
made viceroy of a province in 1870, had risen to be the prime 
minister of the empire. At the head of the empire was a woman, 
the Dowager Empress Tsu Tsi, who had usurped the power of the 
young emperor and ruled the state. It was to these two people 
in power that the war was due. The dowager empress, blindly 
ignorant of the power of the Japanese, decided that these "insolent 
pigmies" deserved to be chastised. Li, her right-hand man, was of 
the same opinion. At the last moment, indeed, doubts began 
to assail his mind, into which came a dim idea that the army and 
navy of China were not in shape to meet the forces of Japan. But 
the empress was resolute. Her sixtieth birthday was at hand 
and she proposed to celebrate it magnificently; and what better 
decorations could she display than the captured banners of these 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 355 

insolent islanders? So it was decided to present a bold front, and, 
instead of the troops of China being removed, reinforcements were 
sent to the force at Asan. 

HOW JAPAN BEGAN WAR 

There followed a startling event. On July 25th three Japanese 
men-of-war, cruising in the Yellow Sea, came in sight of a transport 
loaded with Chinese troops and convoyed by two ships of the Chinese 
navy. The Japanese admiral did not know of the seizure of Seoul 
by the land forces, but he took it to be his duty to prevent Chinese 
troops from reaching Korea, so he at once attacked the warships 
of the enemy, with such effect that they were quickly put to flight. 
Then he sent orders to the transport that it should put about and 
follow his ships. 

This the Chinese generals refused to do. They trusted to the 
fact that they were on a chartered British vessel and that the British 
flag flew over their heads. The daring Japanese admiral troubled 
his soul little about this foreign standard, but at once opened fire 
on the transport, and with such effect that in half an hour it went 
to the bottom, carrying with it one thousand men. Only about 
one hundred and seventy escaped. 

On the same day that this terrible act took place on the waters 
of the sea, the Japanese left Seoul en route for Asan. Reaching 
there, they attacked the Chinese in their intrenchments and drove 
them out. Three days afterwards, on August 1, 1894, both 
countries issued declarations of war. 

Of the conflict that followed, the most interesting events were 
those that took place on the waters, the land campaigns being 
an unbroken series of successes for the well-organized and amply- 
armed Japanese troops over the medieval army of China, which 
went to war fan and umbrella in hand, with antiquated weapons 
and obsolete organization. The principal battle was fought at 
Ping Yang on September 15th, the Chinese losing 16,000 killed, 
wounded and captured, while the Japanese loss was trifling. In 



356 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

November the powerful fortress of Port Arthur was attacked by 
army and fleet, and surrendered after a two days' siege. Then the 
armies advanced until they were in the vicinity of the Great Wall, 
with the soil and capital of China not far before them. 

THE CHINESE AND JAPANESE FLEETS 

With this brief review of the land operations, we must return 
to the movements of the fleets. Backward as the Chinese 
were on land, they were not so on the sea. Li Hung Chang, a born 
progressive, had vainly attempted to introduce railroads into China, 
but he had been more successful in regard to ships, and had pur- 
chased a navy more powerful than that of Japan. The heaviest 
ships of Japan were cruisers, whose armor consisted of deck and 
interior lining of steel. The Chinese possessed two powerful battle- 
ships, with 14-inch iron armor and turrets defended with 12-inch 
armor, each carrying four 12-inch guns. Both navies had the advan- 
tage of European teaching in drill, tactics, and seamanship. The 
Ting Yue?i, the Chinese flagship, had as virtual commander an 
experienced German officer named Von Hanneken; the Chen 
Yuen, the other big ironclad, was handled by Commander McGiffen, 
formerly of the United States navy. Thus commanded, it was 
expected in Europe that the superior strength of the Chinese 
ships would ensure them an easy victory over those of Japan. The 
event showed that this was a decidedly mistaken view. 

It was the superior speed and the large number of rapid-fire 
guns of the Japanese vessels that saved them from defeat. The 
Chinese guns were mainly heavy Krupps and Armstrongs. They 
had also some machine guns, but only three quick-firers. The 
Japanese, on the contrary, had few heavy armor-piercing guns, 
but were supplied with a large number of quick-firing cannon, 
capable of pouring out shells in an incessant stream. Admiral 
Ting and his European officers expected to come at once to close 
quarters and quickly destroy the thin-armored Japanese craft. 
But the shrewd Admiral Ito, commander of the fleet of Japan, 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 357 

had no intention of being thus dealt with. The speed of his craft 
enabled him to keep his distance and to distract the aim of his foes, 
and he proposed to make the best use of this advantage. Thus 
equipped, the two fleets came together in the month of September, 
and an epoch-making battle in the history of the ancient continent 
of Asia was fought. 

THE BATTLE OF THE YALU 

On the afternoon of Sunday, September 16, 1894, Admiral 
Ting's fleet, consisting of 11 warships, 4 gunboats, and 6 torpedo 
boats, anchored off the mouth of the Yalu River. They were 
there as escorts to some transports, which went up the river to dis- 
charge their troops. Admiral Ito had been engaged in the same 
work farther down the coast, and early on Monday morning came 
steaming towards the Yalu in search of the enemy. Under him were 
in all twelve ships, none of them with heavy armor, one of them an 
armed transport. The swiftest ship in the fleet was the Yoshino, 
capable of making twenty-three knots, and armed with 44 quick- 
firing Armstrongs, which would discharge nearly 4,000 pounds 
weight of shells every minute. The heaviest guns were long 13- 
inch cannon, of which four ships possessed one each, protected by 
12-inch shields of steel. Finally, they had an important advantage 
over the Chinese in being abundantly supplied with ainmunition. 

With this formidable fleet, Ito steamed slowly to the north- 
westward. Early on Monday morning he was off the island of 
Hai-yun-tao. At 7 a. m. the fleet began steaming north-eastward. 
It was a fine autumn morning. The sun shone brightly, and there 
was only just enough of a breeze to ripple the surface of the water. 
The long line of warships cleaving their way through the blue 
waters, all bright with white paint, the chrysanthemum of Japan 
shining like a golden shield on every bow, and the same emblem 
flying in red and white from every masthead, formed a striking 
spectacle. Some miles away to port rose the rocky coast and the 
blue hills of Manchuria, dotted with many an island, and showing 



358 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

here and there a little bay with its fishing villages. On the other 
side, the waters of the wide Korean Gulf stretched to an unbroken 
horizon. Towards eleven o'clock the hills at the head of the gulf 
began to rise. Ito had in his leading ship, the Yoshino, a cruiser 
that would have made a splendid scout. In any European navy 
she would have been steaming some miles ahead of her colleagues 
with, perhaps, another swift ship between her and the fleet to pass 
on her signals. Ito, however, seems to have done no scouting but 
to have kept his ships in single line ahead, with a small interval 
between the van and the main squadron. At half-past eleven 
smoke was seen far away on the starboard bow, the bearing being 
east-northeast. It appeared to come from a number of steamers 
in line, on the horizon. The course was altered and the speed 
increased. Ito believed that he had the Chinese fleet in front of 
him. He was right. The smoke was that of Ting's ironclads and 
cruisers anchored in line, with steam up, outside the mouth of the 
Yalu. 

On Monday morning the Chinese crews had been exercised 
at their guns, and a little before noon, while the cooks were busy 
getting dinner ready, the lookout men at several of the mastheads 
began to call out that they saw the smoke of a large fleet away on 
the horizon to the southwest. Admiral Ting was as eager for the 
fight as his opponents. At once he signaled to his fleet to weigh 
anchor, and a few minutes later ran up the signal to clear for 
action. 

PREPARING FOR ACTION 

A similar signal was made by Admiral Ito half an hour later, 
as his ships came in sight of the Chinese line of battle. The actual 
moment was five minutes past noon, but it was not until three- 
quarters of an hour later that the fleets had closed sufficiently near 
for the fight to begin at long range. This three-quarters of an hour 
was a time of anxious and eager expectation for both Chinese and 
Japanese. Commander McGiffen of the Chen Yuen has given a 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 359 

striking description of the scene when "the deadly space" between 
the two fleets was narrowing, and all were watching for the flash 
and smoke of the first gun. "The twenty- two ships," he says, 
"trim and fresh-looking in their paint and their bright new bunting, 
and gay with fluttering signal-flags, presented such a holiday 
aspect that one found difficulty in realizing that they were not there 
simply for a friendly meeting. But, looking closer on the Chen 
Yuen, one could see beneath this gayety, much that was sinister. 
Dark-skinned men, with queues tightly coiled round their heads, 
and with arms bared to the elbow, clustered along the decks in 
groups at the guns, waiting impatiently to kill or be killed. Sand 
was sprinkled along the decks, and more was kept handy against 
the time when they might become slippery. In the superstructures, 
and down out of sight in the bowels of the ship, were men at the 
shell whips and ammunition hoists and in the torpedo room. 
Here and there a man lay flat on the deck, with a charge of powder 
— fifty pounds or more — in his arms, waiting to spring up and pass 
it on when it should be wanted. The nerves of the men below deck 
were in extreme tension. On deck one could see the approaching 
enemy, but below nothing was known, save that any moment 
might begin the action, and bring in a shell through the side. Once 
the battle had begun they were all right; but at first the strain was 
intense. The fleets closed on each other rapidly. My crew was 
silent. The sub-lieutenant in the military foretop was taking 
sextant angles and announcing the range, and exhibiting an 
appropriate small signal-flag. As each range was called, the men 
at the guns would lower the sight-bars, each gun captain, lanyard 
in hand, keeping his gun trained on the enemy. Through the ven- 
tilators could be heard the beats of the steam pumps; for all the 
lines of hose were joined up and spouting water, so that, in case of 
fire, no tune need be lost. Every man's nerves were in a state of 
tension, which was greatly relieved as a huge cloud of white smoke, 
belching from the Ting Yuen's starboard barbette, opened the 
ball." 



360 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

HOW THE SHIPS FOUGHT 

The shot fell a little ahead of the Yoshino, throwing up a tall 
column of white water. Admiral Ito, in his official report, notes 
that this first shot was fired at ten minutes to one. The range, 
as noted on the Chen Yuen, was 5,200 yards, or a little over three 
and a half miles. The heavy barbette and bow guns of the Chen 
Yuen and other ships now joined in, but still the Japanese van 
squadron came on without replying. For five minutes the firing 
was all on the side of the Chinese. The space between the Japanese 
van and the hostile line had diminished to 3,000 yards — a little 
under two miles. The Yoshino, the leading ship, was heading for 
the center of the Chinese fine, but obliquely, so as to pass diagon- 
ally along the front of the Chinese right wing. At five minutes 
to one her powerful battery of quick-firers opened on the Chinese, 
sending out a storm of shells, most of which fell in the water just 
ahead of the Ting and Chen Yuen. Their first effect was to deluge 
the decks, barbettes and bridges of the two ironclads with the 
geysers of water flung up by their impact with the waves. In a 
few minutes every man on deck was soaked to the skin. One by 
one the other ships along the Japanese line opened fire, and then, 
as the range still diminished, the Chinese machine-guns, Hotch- 
kisses and Nordenfelts added their sharp, growling reports to the 
deeper chorus of the heavier guns. 

The armored barbettes and central citadels of the two Chinese 
battleships were especially the mark of the Japanese fire. Theoret- 
ically they ought to have been pierced again and again, but all the 
harm they received were some deep dents and grooves in the thick 
plates. But through the thin-lined hulls of the cruisers the shells 
crashed like pebbles through glass, the only effect of the metal wall 
being to explode the shells and scatter their fragments far and wide. 

The Chinese admiral had drawn up his ships in a single line, 
with the large ones in the center and the weaker ones on the wings. 
Ito's ships came up in column, the Yoshino leading, his purpose 
being to take advantage of the superior speed of his ships and circle 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 361 

round his adversary. Past the Chinese right wing swept the swift 
Yoshino, pouring in the shells from her rapid-fire guns on the unpro- 
tected vessels there posted, one of which, the Yang Wei, was soon 
in flames. The ships that followed tore the woodwork of the Chao 
Yung with their shells, and she likewise burst into flames. The 
slower vessels of the Japanese fleet lagged behind their speedy 
leaders, particularly the little Heijei, which fell so far in the rear 
as to be exposed to the fire of the whole Chinese fleet. In this 
dilemma its captain displayed a daring spirit. Instead of following 
his consorts, he dashed straight for the line of the enemy, passing 
between two of their larger vessels at 500 yards distance. Two 
torpedoes were launched at him, but missed their mark. But he 
was made the target of a heavy fire, and came through with his 
craft in flames. At 2.23 the blazing Chao Yung went to the bottom 
with all on board. 

As a result of the Japanese evolution, their ships finally closed 
in on the Chinese on both sides and the action reached its most 
furious phase. The two flag-ships, the Japanese Matsushima and 
the Chinese Ting Yuen, battered each other with their great guns, 
the woodwork of the latter being soon in flames, while a heap 
of ammunition on the Matsushima was exploded by a shell and 
killed or wounded eighty men. The Chinese flag-ship would 
probably have been destroyed by the flames but that her consort 
came to her assistance. By five o'clock the Chinese fleet was in 
the greatest disorder, several of its ships having been sunk or 
driven in flames ashore, while others were in flight. The Japanese 
fire was mainly concentrated on the two large ironclads, which 
continued the fight, their thick armor resisting the heaviest guns 
of the enemy. 

PERILS OF THE COMMANDERS 

Signals and signal halyards had been long since shot away, 
and all the signalmen killed or wounded; but the jtwo ships con- 
formed to each other's movements, and made a splendid fight of it. 



362 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

Admiral Ting had been insensible for some hours at the outset 
of the battle. He had stood too close to one of his own big guns 
on a platform above its muzzle, and had been stunned by the 
upward and backward concussion of the air; but he had recovered 
consciousness, and, though wounded by a burst shell, was bravely 
commanding his ship. Von Hanneken was also wounded in one 
of the barbettes. The ship was on fire forward, but the hose kept 
the flames under. The Chen Yuen was almost in the same plight. 
Her commander, McGiffen, had had several narrow escapes. When 
at last the lacquered woodwork on her forecastle caught fire, and 
the men declined to go forward and put it out unless an officer 
went with them, he led the party. He was stooping down to move 
something on the forecastle, when a shot passed between his arms 
and legs, wounding both Ins wrists. At the same time he was struck 
down by an explosion near him. When he recovered from the 
shock he found himself in a terrible position. He was lying wounded 
on the forecastle, and full in front of him he saw the muzzle of one 
of the heavy barbette guns come sweeping round, rise, and then 
sink a little, as the gunners trained it on a Japanese ship, never 
noticing that he lay just below the line of fire. It was in vain to 
try to attract their attention. In another minute he would have 
been caught in the fiery blast. With a great effort he rolled himself 
over the edge of the forecastle, dropping on some rubbish on the 
main deck, and hearing the roar of the gun as he fell. 

We have given this vivid description of a battle of modern 
warships, largely taken from Commander McGiffen's narrative, 
because of the interest it involves. The finish of the story may be 
briefly stated. The Chinese battleships, though they had suffered 
little, were both running out of ammunition, and the Japanese 
appeared to be in trouble of some sort, for about 5.30 p. m. Admiral 
Ito signaled his ships to withdraw from the action. The Chinese 
ironclads followed them for some distance and then withdrew. 
The next morning the Chinese fleet had withdrawn. Despite the 
resisting power of the ironclads, the Chinese had lost much more 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 363 

heavily in ships and men than the Japanese. But the most 
remarkable feature of the battle of the Yalu, and one which renders 
it especially notable, was that it took place between two nations 
which, had the war broken out forty years earlier, would have done 
their fighting with fleets of wooden junks and weapons of the past 
centuries. As an object lesson of the progress of China and Japan 
in modern ideas it is of the greatest interest. 

CAPTURE OF WEI HAI WEI 

In January, 1895, the Japanese fleet advanced against the 
strongly fortified stronghold of Wei Hai Wei, on the northern coast 
of China. Here a force of 25,000 men was landed successfully, and 
attacked the fort in the rear, quickly capturing its landward defenses. 
The stronghold was thereupon abandoned by its garrison and 
occupied by the Japanese. The Chinese fleet lay in the harbor, 
and surrendered to the Japanese after several ships had been sunk 
by torpedo boats. 

China was now in a perilous position. Its fleet was lost, its 
coast strongholds of Port Arthur and Wei Hai Wei were held by 
the enemy, and its capital was threatened from the latter place 
and by the army north of the Great Wall. A continuation of the 
war promised to bring about the complete conquest of the Chinese 
empire, and Li Hung Chang, who had been degraded from his official 
rank in consequence of the disasters to the army, was now restored 
to all his honors and sent to Japan to sue for peace. In the treaty 
obtained China was compelled to acknowledge the independence of 
Korea, to cede to Japan the island of Formosa and the Pescadores 
group, and that part of Manchuria occupied by the Japanese army, 
including Port Arthur, also to pay an indemnity of 300,000,000 taels 
and open seven new treaty ports. This treaty was not fully carried 
out. The Russian, British, and French ministers forced Japan, 
under threat of war, to give up her claim to the Liao-tung peninsula 
and Port Arthur, which stronghold was soon after obtained, under 
long lease, by the Russians. 



364 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

EUROPE INVADES CHINA 

The story of China during the few remaining years of the cen- 
tury may be briefly told. The evidence of its weakness yielded 
by the war with Japan was quickly taken advantage of by the great 
Powers of Europe, and China was in danger of going to pieces under 
their attacks, which grew so decided and ominous that rumors of a 
partition between these Powers of the most ancient and populous 
empire of the world filled the air. 

In 1898 decided steps in this direction were taken. Russia 
leased from China for ninety-nine years Port Arthur and Talien 
Wan, and took practical possession of Manchuria, through which 
a railroad was built connecting with the Trans-Siberian road, 
while Port Arthur afforded her an ice-free harbor for her Pacific 
fleet. Great Britain, jealous of this movement on the part of 
Russia, forced from the unwilling hands of China the port of Wei 
Hai Wei, and Germany demanded and obtained the cession of a 
port at Kiau Chau, farther down the coast, in retribution for the 
murder of some missionaries. France, not to be outdone by her 
neighbors, gained concessions of territory in the south, adjoining her 
Indo-China possessions, and Italy, last of all, came into the Eastern 
market with a demand for a share of the nearly defunct empire. 

The nations appeared to be settling on China like vultures on 
a carcass, and ready to tear the antique commonwealth to pieces 
between them. Within the empire itself revolutionary changes 
took place, the dowager empress having first deprived the emperor 
of all power and then enforced his abdication. 

Meanwhile one important result came from the war. Li 
Hung Chang and the other progressive statesmen of the empire, 
who had long been convinced that the only hope of China lay in its 
being thrown open to Western science and art, found themselves 
able to carry out their plans, the conservative opposition having seri- 
ously broken down. The result of this was seen in a dozen directions. 
Railroads, long almost completely forbidden, gained free " right of 
way," and promised in the near future to traverse the country far 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 365 

and wide. Steamers ploughed their way for a thousand miles up 
the Yang-tse-Kiang; engineers became busy exploiting the coal 
and iron mines of the Flowery Kingdom; great factories, equipped 
with the best modern machinery, sprang up in the foreign settle- 
ments; foreign books began to be translated and read; and the 
empress even went so far as to receive foreign ambassadors in public 
audience and on a footing of outward equality in the "forbidden 
city" of Peking, long the sacredly secluded center of an empire 
locked against the outer world. 

The increase of European interference in China, with indica- 
tions of a possible intention to dismember that ancient empire and 
divide its fragments among the land-hungry nations of the West, 
was viewed in China with dread and indignation, the feeling of 
hostility extending to the work of the missionaries, who were 
probably viewed by many as agents in the movement of invasion. 

THE BOXER OUTBREAK 

The hostile sentiment thus developed was indicated early in 
1900 by the outbreak of a Chinese secret society known by a name 
signified in English by the word " Boxers." These ultra-patriots 
organized an anti-missionary crusade in several provinces of North 
China in which many missionaries and native Christians were 
killed. The movement extended from the missionary settlements 
to include the whole foreign movement in China, and was evi- 
dently encouraged by the dowager empress and her advisers. 

As a result the outbreak spread to Peking, where Baron von 
Ketteler, the German minister, was killed, several of the legation 
buildings were destroyed, and more than two hundred refugees 
were besieged within the walls of the British legation. The danger to 
which the ministries and their assistants and families were exposed 
aroused Europe and America, and as the Chinese government 
took no steps to allay the outbreak, a relief expedition was organized, 
in which United States, British, French, German, Russian and 
Japanese forces took part. 



366 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

The fleet of the allies bombarded and destroyed the Taku 
forts, and heavy fighting took place at Tien-tsin, Pie-tsang and 
Yang-tsun. The military expedition reached Peking and rescued 
the besieged on August 14, 1906, the empress and her court fleeing 
from the capital. A peace treaty was signed on September 7, 1901, 
one of the conditions of which was that China should pay an indem- 
nity of $320,000,000 to the foreign Powers. The share of this allotted 
to the United States was $24,440,000, but after a portion of this 
had been paid the United States in 1908 remitted $10,800,000, on 
the ground that this was in excess over its actual expense. This 
act of generosity won the earnest gratitude of China. 

This event, significant of the latent and active hostilities 
between the East and the West, was followed by a much greater 
one in 1904-05, when Japan had the hardihood to engage in war 
with the great European empire of Russia and the unlooked-for 
ability and good fortune to defeat its powerful antagonist. 

RUSSIAN DESIGNS ON MANCHURIA 

This contest, which takes its place among the great wars of 
modern times, must be dealt with briefly here, as it belongs to 
European history only in the minor sense of a European country 
being engaged in it. It arose from the encroachments of Russia 
in the Chinese province of Manchuria and fears on the part of Japan 
that the scope of Russian designs might include the invasion and 
conquest of that country. 

As already stated, Russia secured a lease of Port Arthur, at 
the southern extremity of Manchuria, from China in 1896. Sub- 
sequently the Siberian Railway was extended southward from 
Harbin to this place, the harbor was deepened, and building opera- 
tions were begun at a new town named Dalny, which was to be 
made Asia's greatest port. The line of the railway was strongly 
guarded with Russian troops. 

These movements of Russia excited suspicion in Great Britain 
and Japan, which countries so strongly opposed the military occu- 






p t? 3 





4? 











THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 367 

pation by Russia of Chinese territory that in 1901 Russia agreed 
to withdraw her troops within the following year, to restore the 
railway to China, and subsequently to give up all occupation of 
Chinese territory. 

Of these agreements only the first was kept, and that only 
temporarily. In 1903 Japan proposed an agreement with Russia 
to the effect that both parties should respect the integrity of China 
and Korea, while the interest of Japan in Korea and that of Russia 
in Manchuria should be recognized. The refusal of Russia to accept 
this proposition overcame the patience of Japan, whose rulers saw 
clearly that Russia had no intention of withdrawing from the 
country occupied or of hampering her future purposes with agree- 
ments. In fact Japan's own independence seemed threatened. 

JAPAN BEGINS WAR ON RUSSIA 

The result was in consonance with the Japanese character. In 
February, 1904, Japan withdrew her minister from the capital of 
Russia and three days later, without the formality of a declaration 
of war, attacked the Russian fleets at Chemulpo and Port Arthur. 
The result was the sinking of two Russian ships in Chemulpo 
harbor, and the disabling of a number of vessels at Port Arthur. 

Troops were landed at the same time. Seoul, the capital of 
Korea, was occupied, and an army marched north to Ping- Yang. 
The first land engagement took place on the Yalu on April 30th, 
the Japanese forces under General Kuroki attacking and defeating 
the Russians at that point, and making a rapid advance into 
Manchuria. 

Meanwhile Admiral Togo had been busy at Port Arthur. 
On April 13th he sent boats in shore to plant mines. Makharov, 
the Russian admiral, followed these boats out until he found Togo 
awaiting him with a fleet too strong for him to attack. On his 
return his flag-ship, the Petropavlovsk, struck one of the mines and 
went down with her crew of 750 and Makharov himself. The 
smaller ships reached harbor in bad shape from their experience of 



368 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

Togo's big guns. On August 10th, the Port Harbor fleet was 
again roughly handled by the Japanese, and some days later a 
Vladivostock squadron, steaming southward to reinforce the Port 
Arthur fleet, was met and defeated. This ended the naval war- 
fare for that period, all the ships which Russia had on the Pacific 
being destroyed or seriously injured. 

THE ARMIES MEET 

On land the Japanese made successful movements to the north 
and south. An army under General Oku landed in the Liao-tung 
peninsula early in May, cut the railway to Port Arthur, and cap- 
tured Kin-chau, nearly forty miles from that port. There followed 
a terrible struggle on the heights of Nan-shan, ending in the repulse 
of the Russian garrison, with a loss of eight} guns. This success 
gave the Japanese control of Dalny, which formed for them a new 
base. General Nogi soon after landed with a strong force and took 
command of the operation against Port Arthur. 

The northern army met with similar success, General Kuroki 
fighting his way to the vicinity of Liao-yang, where he soon had 
the support of General Nozdu, who had landed an army in May. 
Oku, marching north from the peninsula, also supported him, the 
three generals forcing Kuropatkin, the Russian commander-in-chief, 
back upon his base. Marshal Oyama, a veteran of former wars, 
was made commander-in-chief of the Japanese armies. 

Liao-tung became the seat of one of the greatest battles of the 
war, lasting seven days, the number of dead and wounded being 
over 30,000. It ended in the retreat of Kuropatkin's army, who fell 
back upon the line of defenses covering Mukden, the Manchurian 
capital. Here he was again attacked by Kuroki, who captured the 
key of the Russian position on the 1st of September, and held it 
until reinforcements arrived. 

For a month the armies faced each other south of Mukden, 
the resting spell ending in a general advance of the Russian army, 
which had been largely reinforced. In the battle that followed 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 369 

the Russians lost heavily, but failed to break the Japanese lines, and 
after a fortnight of hard fighting both sides desisted from active 
hostilities, holding their positions with little change. 

PORT ARTHUR TAKEN 

Meanwhile Port Arthur had become closely invested. One 
by one the hills surrounding the harbor were taken by the Japanese, 
after stubborn resistance. Big siege guns were dragged up and 
began to batter the town and the ships. On August 16th, General 
Stoessel, commander at Fort Arthur, having refused to surrender, 
a grand assault was ordered by Nogi. It proved unsuccessful, 
while the assailants lost 14,000 men. The bombardment continued, 
the buildings and ships suffering severely. Finally tunnels were 
cut through the solid rock and on December 20th the principal 
stronghold to the east was carried by storm. Other forts were 
soon taken and on January 2, 1905, the port was surrendered, the 
Japanese obtaining 40,000 prisoners, 59 forts, about 550 guns, and 
other munitions. The fleet captured consisted of four damaged 
battleships, two damaged cruisers and a considerable number of 
smaller craft. 

We left the armies facing each other at Mukden in late Septem- 
ber. They remained there until February, 1905, without again 
coming into contact, and no decisive action took place until March. 
Kuropatkin's force had meanwhile been largely reinforced, through 
the difficult aid of the one-tracked Siberian railway, and was now 
divided into three armies of approximately 150,000 each. Oyama 
had also received large reinforcements and now had 500,000 men 
under his command. These consisted of the armies under Kuroki, 
Nozdu and Oku, and the force of Nogi released by the capture of 
Port Arthur. 

General Grippenburg had command of one of the Russian 
armies and on January 25th took position on the left bank of the 
Hun River. Here, in the month following, he lost 10,000 of his men, 
and then threw up his post, declaring that his chief had not properly 

24 



370 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

supported him. On January 19th, a Japanese advance in force 
began, attacking with energy and forcing Kuropatkin to withdraw 
his center and left behind the line of the Hun. Here he fiercely 
attacked Oku and Nogi, for the time checking their advance. But 
Bilderling and Linievitch just then fell into difficulties and it 
became necessary to retreat, leaving Mukden to the enemy. 

There were no further engagements of importance between 
the armies, though they remained face to face for months in a 
long line south of Harbin. Kuropatkin during this time was 
relieved from command, Linievitch being appointed to succeed 
him. The remaining conflict of the war was a naval one, of remark- 
able character. 

RUSSIAN FLEET DEFEATED 

Russia, finding its Pacific fleet put out of commission, and 
quite unable to face the doughty Togo, had despatched a second 
fleet from the Baltic, comprising nearly forty vessels in all. These 
made their way through the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean and 
moved upward through the Chinese and Japanese Seas, finding 
themselves on May 27, 1905, in the strait of Tsushuma, between 
Korea and Japan. Hitherto not a hostile vessel had been seen. 
Togo had held his fleet in ambush, while keeping scouts on the look- 
out for the coming Russians. 

Suddenly the Russians found themselves surrounded by a 
long line of enemies, which had suddenly appeared in their front. 
The attack was furious and irresistible; the defense weak and ineffec- 
tive. Night was at hand, but before it came five Russian warships 
had gone to the bottom. A torpedo attack was made during the 
night and the general engagement resumed next morning. When 
a halt was called, Admiral Togo had sunk, disabled or captured 
eight battleships, nine cruisers, three coast-defense ships, and a 
large number of other craft, the great Russian fleet being practi- 
cally a total loss, while Togo had lost only three torpedo boats and 
650 men. The losses in men by the Russians was 4,000 killed, and 



THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 371 

7,3'JO prisoners taken. Altogether it was a naval victory which for 
completeness has rarely been equaled in history. 

Russia, beaten on land and sea, was by this time ready to give 
up the struggle, and readily accepted President Roosevelt's sugges- 
tion to hold a peace convention in the United States. The terms 
of the treaty were very favorable to Russia, all things considered; 
but the power of Japan had been strained to the utmost, and that 
Power felt little inclined to put obstacles in the way. The island 
of Sakhalin was divided between them, both armies evacuated 
Manchuria, leaving it to the Chinese, and Port Arthur and Dalny 
were transferred to Japan. 

Yet though Japan received no indemnity and little in the way 
of material acquisitions of any kind, she came out of the war with 
a prestige that no one was likely to question, and has since ranked 
among the great Powers of the world. And she has added con- 
siderably to her territory by the annexation of Korea, in which 
there was no one to question her right. 

CHINA BECOMES A REPUBLIC 

While Japan was manifesting this progress in the arts of war, 
China was making as great a progress in the arts of peace. The 
building of railroads, telegraphs, modern factories, and other west- 
ern innovations proceeded apace, modern literature and systems 
of education were introduced, and the old competitive examinations 
for office, in the Confucian literature and philosophy, were replaced 
by examinations in modern science and general knowledge. Yet 
most surprising of all was the great political revolution which 
converted an autocratic empire which had existed for four or five 
thousand years into a modern constitutional republic of advanced 
type. This is the most surprising political overturn that history 
anywhere presents. 

For many years a spirit of opposition to the Man.chu empire 
had existed and had led more than once to rebellions of great scope. 
The success of Japan in war was followed in China by a revolutionary 



372 THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

movement whose first demand was for a constitutional government, 
this leading, on September 20, 1907, to an imperial decree outlining 
a plan for a national assembly. On July 22, 1908, another decree 
provided for provincial assemblies to serve as a basis for a future 
parliament. Later the government promised to introduce a par- 
liamentary system within nine years. 

The idea of such a government spread rapidly throughout the 
country, and the demand arose for an immediate parliament. As 
the government resisted this demand, the revolutionary sentiment 
grew, and in October, 1911, a rebellious movement took place at 
Wuchang which rapidly spread, the rebels declaring that the 
Manchu dynasty must be overthrown. 

Soon the movement became so threatening that the emperor 
issued a decree appealing to the mercy of the people, and abjectly 
acknowledging that the government had done wrong in many 
particulars. Yuan Shi-Kai, a prominent revolutionary states- 
man, was made prime minister and a national assembly convened. 
It had become too late, however, to check the movement, and at 
the end of 1911 a new republic was announced at Nanking, under 
the provisional presidency of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, a student of modern 
institutions in Europe and America. The abdication of the empe- 
ror quickly followed, in February 12, 1912, ending a Manchu 
dynasty which had held the throne for 267 years. Yuan Shi-Kai 
was later chosen as president. 

This is a very brief account of the radical revolution that took 
place and we cannot go into the details of what succeeded. It 
must suffice to say that the republic has since persisted, Yuan Shi- 
Kai still serving as president. The republic has a parliament of 
its own; a president and cabinet and all the official furniture 
of a republican government. There is only needed an education 
of the people into the principles of free government "of the people, 
for the people, and by the people" to complete the most remarkable 
political revolution the world has yet known. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Turkey and the Balkan States 

Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe 

The Story of Servia — Turkey in Europe — The Bulgarian Horrors — The Defense of 
Plevna — The Congress of Berlin — Hostile Sentiments in the Balkans — Incitement to 
War — Fighting Begins — The Advance on Adrianople — Servian and Greek Victories — 
The Bulgarian Successes — Steps toward Peace — The War Resumed — Siege of Scutari 
— Treaty of Peace — War between the Allies — The Final Settlement. 

IN the southeast of Europe lies a group of minor kingdoms, of 
little importance in size, but of great importance in the prog- 
ress of recent events. Their sudden uprising in 1912, their 
conquest of nearly the whole existing remnant of Turkey in 
Europe, and the subsequent struggle between them for the spoils 
of the conquest brought them swiftly into prominence. And they 
are specially important from the fact that Servia, one of this 
group of states, was the ostensible — hardly the actual — cause of 
the great European war of 1914. 

These, known as the Balkan States from their being traversed 
by the Balkan range of mountains, comprise the kingdoms of 
Roumania, Bulgaria, Servia, Montenegro, and the recent and highly 
artificial kingdom of Albania. Greece is an outlying member 
of the group. 

THE STORY OF SERVIA 

Of these varied states Servia is of especial interest from its 
immediate relation to the European contest. Its ancient history, 
also, possesses much of interest. Minor in extent at present, it 
was once an extensive empire. Under its monarch, Stephen Dushan 
(1336-56), it included the whole of Macedonia, Albania, Thessaly, 
Bulgaria, and Northern Greece, leaving little of the Balkan region 

(373) 



374 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

beyond its borders. In 1389 its independence ended as a result 
of the battle of Kossova, it becoming tributary to the conquering 
empire of the Turks. In another half century it became a province 
of Turkey in Europe, and so remained for nearly two hundred years. 

Its succeeding history may be rapidly summarized. In 1718 
Austria won the greater part of it, with its capital Belgrade, from 
Turkey, but in 1739 it was regained by the Turks. Barbarous 
treatment of the Christian population of Servia by its half-civilized 
rulers led to a series of insurrections, ending in 1812 in its inde- 
pendence, by the terms of the Treaty of Bukarest. The Turks 
won it back in 1813, but in 1815, under its leader, Milosh, its com- 
plete independence was attained. 

After the fall of Plevna in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, 
Servia joined its forces to those of Russia, and by the Treaty of 
Berlin it obtained an accession of territory and full recognition 
by the Powers of Europe of its independence. In 1885 a national 
rising took place in Eastern Roumelia, a province of Turkey, which 
led to the Turkish governor being expelled and union with Bul- 
garia proclaimed. Servia demanded a share of this new acquisition 
of territory and went to war with Bulgaria, but met with a severe 
defeat. When, in 1908, Austria annexed the former Turkish prov- 
inces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the people of Servia were highly 
indignant, these provinces being largely inhabited by people of 
the Servian race. The exasperation thus caused is of importance, 
especially as augmented by the agency of Austria in preventing 
Servia from obtaining a port on the Adriatic after the Balkan war 
of 1912-13. The seething feeling of enmity thus engendered had 
its final outcome in the assassination of the Austrian Crown Prince 
Ferdinand in 1914, and the subsequent invasion of Servia by the 
armies of Austria. 

We have here spoken of the stages by which Servia gradually 
won its independence from Turkey and its recognition as a full- 
fledged member of the European family of nations. There are 
several others of the Balkan group which similarly won independence 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 375 

from Turkey and to the story of which some passing allusion is 
desirable. 

How Greece won its independence has been already told. 
Another of the group, the diminutive mountain state of Monte- 
negro, much the smallest of them all, has the honor of being the 
only section of that region of Europe that maintained its inde- 
pendence during the long centuries of Turkish domination. Its 
mountainous character enabled its hardy inhabitants to hold 
their own against the Turks in a series of deadly struggles. In 
1876-78 its ruler, Prince Nicholas, joined in the war of Servia and 
Russia against Turkey, the result being that 1,900 square miles 
were added to its territory by the Treaty of Berlin. In 1910 it 
was changed from a principality into a kingdom, Prince Nicholas 
gaining the title of King Nicholas. A second acquisition of terri- 
tory succeeded the Balkan War of 1913, the adjoining Turkish 
province of Novibazar being divided between it and Servia. 

TURKEY IN EUROPE 

With this summary of the story of the Balkans we shall proceed 
to give in more detail its recent history, comprising the wars of 
1876-78 and of 1912-13. As for the relations between Turkey and 
the Balkan peninsula, it is well known how the Asiatic conquerors 
known as Turks, having subdued Asia Minor, invaded Europe in 
1355, overran most of the Balkan country, and attacked and took 
Constantinople in 1453. Servia, Bosnia, Albania, and Greece were 
added to the Ottoman Empire, which subdued half of Hungary 
and received its first check on land before the walls of Vienna in 
1529, and on the ocean at the battle of Lepanto in 1571. Vienna was 
again besieged by the Turks in 1683, and was then saved from 
capture by Sobieski of Poland and Charles of Lorraine. 

This was the end of Turkish advance in Europe. Since that 
date it has been gradually yielding to European assault, Russia 
beginning its persistent attacks upon Turkey about the middle of 
the eighteenth century. At that time Turkey occupied a con- 



376 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

siderable section of Southern Russia, but by the end of the century- 
much of this had been regained. In 1812 Russia won that part of 
Moldavia and Bessarabia which lies beyond the Pruth, in 1812 
it gained the principal mouth of the Danube, and in 1829 it crossed 
the Balkans and took Adrianople. The independence of Greece 
was acknowledged the same year. 

The next important event in the history of Turkey in Europe 
was the Crimean War, the story of which has been told in an 
earlier chapter. The chief results of it were a weakening of Russian 
influence in Turkey, the abolition of the Russian protectorate over 
Moldavia and Wallachia (united in 1861 as the principality of 
Roumania), and the cession to Turkey of part of Bessarabia. 

Turkey also came out of the Crimean War weakened and shorn 
of territory. But the Turkish idea of government remained un- 
changed, and in twenty years' time Russia was fairly goaded into 
another war. In 1875 Bosnia rebelled in consequence of the 
insufferable oppression of the Turkish tax-collectors. The brave 
Bosnians maintained themselves so sturdily in their mountain 
fastnesses that the Turks almost despaired of subduing them, and 
the Christian subjects of the Sultan in all quarters became so 
stirred up that a general revolt was threatened. 

THE BULGARIAN HORRORS 

The Turks undertook to prevent this in their usual fashion. 
Irregular troops were sent into Christian Bulgaria with orders to 
kill all they met. It was an order to the Mohammedan taste. 
The defenseless villages of Bulgaria were entered and their inhab- 
itants slaughtered in cold blood, till thousands of men, women, and 
children had been slain. 

When tidings of these atrocities reached Europe the nations 
were filled with horror. The Sultan made smooth excuses, and 
diplomacy sought to settle the affair, but it became evident that a 
massacre so terrible as this could not be condoned so easily. Dis- 
raeli, then prime minister of Great Britain, sought to dispose of 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 377 

these reports as matters for jest; but Gladstone, at that time in 
retirement, arose in his might, and by his pamphlet on the "Bul- 
garian Horrors" so aroused public sentiment in England that the 
government dared not back up Turkey in the coming war. His 
denunciation rang through England like a trumpet-call. "Let 
the Turks now carry away their abuses in the only possible manner — 
by carrying off themselves," he wrote. "Their Zaptiehs and their 
Mudirs, their Bimbashis and their Yuzbachis, their Kaimakams and 
their Pashas, one and all, bag and baggage, shall, I hope, clear out 
from the province they have desolated and profaned." 

He followed up this pamphlet by a series of speeches, delivered 
to great meetings and to the House of Commons, with which for 
four years he sought, as he expressed it, "night and day to counter- 
work the purpose of Lord Beaconsfield." He succeeded; England 
was prevented by his eloquence from joining the Turks in the war; 
but he excited the fury of the war party .to such an extent that at 
one time it was not safe for him to appear in the streets of London. 

Hostilities were soon proclaimed. The Russians, of the same 
race and religious sect as the Bulgarians, were excited beyond con- 
trol, and in April, 1877, Alexander II declared war against Turkey. 
The outrages of the Turks had been so flagrant that no allies came 
to their aid, while the rottenness of their empire was shown by the 
rapid advance of the Russian armies. They crossed the Danube 
in June. In a month later, they had occupied the principal passes 
of the Balkan mountains and were in position to descend on the 
broad plain that led to Constantinople. But at this point in their 
career they met with a serious check. Osman Pasha, the single 
Turkish commander of ability that the war developed, occupied 
the town of Plevna with such forces as he could gather, fortified 
it as strongly as possible, and from its walls defied the Russians. 

THE DEFENSE OF PLEVNA 

The invaders dared not advance and leave this stronghold in 
their rear. For five months all the power of Russia and the skill of 



378 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

its generals were held in check by this brave man and his followers, 
until Europe and America alike looked on with admiration at his 
remarkable defense, in view of which the cause of the war was almost 
forgotten. The Russian general Knidener was repulsed with the 
loss of 8,000 men. The daring Skobeleff strove in vain to launch 
his troops over Osman's walls. At length General Todleben under- 
took the siege, adopting the slow but safe method of starving out 
the defenders. Osman Pasha now showed his courage, as he had 
already shown his endurance. When hunger and disease began to 
reduce the strength of his men, he resolved on a final desperate 
effort. At the head of his brave garrison the "Lion of Plevna" 
sallied from the city, and fought with desperate courage to break 
through the circle of his foes. He was finally driven back into the 
city and compelled to surrender. 

Osman had won glory, and his fall was the fall of the Turkish 
cause. The Russians crossed the Balkans, capturing in the Schipka 
Pass a Turkish army of 30,000 men. Adrianople was taken, and 
the Turkish line of retreat cut off. The Russians marched to the 
Bosporus, and the Sultan was compelled to sue for peace to save his 
capital from falling into the hands of the Christians, as it had fallen 
into those of the Turks four centuries before. 

Russia had won the game for which she had made so long a 
struggle. The treaty of San Stefano practically decreed the dissolu- 
tion of the Turkish Empire. But at this juncture the other nations 
of Europe took part. They were not content to see the balance of 
power destroyed by Russia becoming master of Constantinople, 
and England demanded that the treaty should be revised by the 
European Powers. Russia protested, but Disraeli threatened war, 
and the Czar gave way. 

THE CONGRESS OF BERLIN 

The Congress of Berlin, to which the treaty was referred, 
settled the question in the following manner: Montenegro, Rou- 
mania, and Servia were declared independent, and Bulgaria became 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 379 

free, except that it had to pay an annual tribute to the Sultan. The 
part of old Bulgaria that lay south of the Balkan Mountains was 
named Eastern Roumelia and given its own civil government, but 
was left under the military control of Turkey. Bosnia and Herze- 
govina were placed under the control of Austria. All that Russia 
obtained for her victories were some provinces in Asia Minor. 
Turkey was terribly shorn, and since then her power has been 
further reduced, for Eastern Roumelia has broken loose from her 
control and united itself again to Bulgaria. 

Another twenty years passed, and Turkey found itself at war 
again. It was the old story, the oppression of the Christians. This 
time the trouble began in Armenia, a part of Turkey in Asia, where 
in 1895 and 1896 terrible massacres took place. Indignation reigned 
in Europe, but fears of a general war kept the Powers from using 
force, and the Sultan paid no heed to the reforms he had promised 
to make. 

In 1896 the Christians of the island of Crete broke out in revolt 
against the oppression and tyranny of Turkish rule. Of all the 
Powers of Europe little Greece was the only one that came to their 
aid, and the great nations, still inspired with the fear of a general 
war, sent their fleet and threatened Greece with blockade unless 
she would withdraw her troops. 

The result was one scarcely expected. Greece was persistent, 
and gathered a threatening army on the frontier of Turkey, and war 
broke out in 1897 between the two states. The Turks now, under 
an able commander, showed much of their ancient valor and 
intrepidity, crossing the frontier, defeating the Greeks in a rapid 
series of engagements, and occupying Thessaly, while the Greek 
army was driven back in a state of utter demoralization. At this 
juncture, when Greece lay at the mercy of Turkey, as Turkey had 
lain at that of Russia twenty years before, the Powers, which 
had refused to aid Greece in her generous but hopeless effort, 
stepped in to save her from ruin. Turkey was bidden to call a halt, 
and the Sultan reluctantly stopped the march of his army. He 



380 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

demanded the whole of Thessaly and a large indemnity in money. 
The former the Powers refused to grant, and reduced the indemnity 
to a sum within the power of Greece to pay. Thus the affair 
ended, and such was the status of the Eastern Question until the 
hatred of the Balkan States again leaped into flame in the memorable 
Balkan War of 1912. 

HOSTILE SENTIMENTS OF THE BALKANS 

As may be seen from what has been said, the sentiment of 
hostility between the Christian States of the Balkan region and the 
Mohammedan empire of Turkey was not likely to be easily allayed. 
The atrocities of persecution which the Christians had suffered at 
the hands of the Turks were unforgotten and unavenged, and to 
them was added an ambitious desire to widen their dominions at 
the expense of Turkey, if possible to drive Turkey completely out 
of Europe and extend their areas of control to the Mediterranean 
and the Bosporus. These states consisted of Servia, made an 
autonomous principality in 1830, an independent principality in 
1878, and a kingdom in 1882; Bulgaria, an autonomous principality 
in 1878, an independent kingdom in 1908; Roumania, an auton- 
omous principality in 1802, an independent principality in 1878, 
a kingdom in 1881; Montenegro, an independent principality in 
1878, a kingdom in 1910; Eastern Roumelia, autonomous in 1878, 
annexed to Bulgaria in 1885. Adjoining these on the south was 
Greece, an independent kingdom since 1830. The former provinces 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been assigned to Austrian adminis- 
trative control in 1878, and annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, 
an act which added to the feeling of unrest in the Balkan States. 

The relations existing between the Balkan States and their 
neighbors was one of dissatisfaction and hostility winch might at 
any time break into war, this being especially the case with those 
which bordered directly upon Turkey — Servia, Bulgaria, Mon- 
tenegro and Greece. Roumania, being removed from contact, 
had less occasion to entertain warlike sentiments. 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 381 

INCITEMENT TO WAR 

A fitting time for this indignation and hostile feeling to break 
out into war came in 1912, as a result of the invasion and conquest 
of Tripoli by Italy in 1911-12. This war, settled by a protocol 
in favor of Italy on October 15, 1912, had caused financial losses 
and political unrest in Turkey which offered a promising oppor- 
tunity for the states to carry into effect their long-cherished design. 
They did not act as a unit, the smallest of them, Montenegro, 
declaring war on Turkey on October 8th, and Greece, on October 
17th. In regard to Servia and Bulgaria, Turkey took the initiative, 
declaring war on them October 17, 1912. 

But acts of war did not wait for a formal declaration. On 
October 5th, King Peter of Servia thus explained to the National 
Assembly of that state his reasons for mobilizing his troops: 

"I have applied with friendly counsels to Constantinople 
regarding the misery which the Christian nationalities, including 
ours, are suffering in Turkey, and it is to be regretted that all this 
was of no avail. Instead of the expected reforms we were surprised 
a few days ago by the mobilization of the Turkish army near our 
frontiers. To this act, by which our safety was endangered, Servia 
had only one reply. By my decree our army was put into a mobile 
state. 

"Our position is clear. Our duty is to undertake measures 
insuring our safety. It is our duty, in conformity with other 
Christian Balkan States, to do everything in our power to insure 
proper conditions for a real and permanent peace in the Bal- 
kans." 

The first raid into Turkish territory was made by the Bulgarian 
bandit Sandansky, who in 1902 had kidnapped Miss Ellen M. 
Stone, an American missionary, and held her for a ransom of $65,000 
to procure funds for his campaign. At the head of a band of 2,500 
Bulgarians he crossed the frontier and burned the Turkish block- 
house at Oschumava, afterwards occupying a strategic position 
above the Struma River. 



382 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

FIGHTING BEGINS 

The Montenegrin army opened the war on October 9th, by 
attacking a strong Turkish position opposite Podgoritza, Franz 
Peter, the youngest son of King Nicholas, firing the first shot. Bul- 
garia, without waiting to declare war, crossed the frontier on 
October 14th and made a sharp attack on the railway patrols 
between Sofia and Uskut. Sharp fighting at the same time took 
place on the Greek frontier, the Greeks capturing Malurica Pass, 
the chief mountain pass leading from Greece to Turkey on the 
northern frontier. As regards the reasons impelling Greece to take 
an active part in the war, it must be remembered that the great 
majority of Greeks still lived under the Turkish flag, while the 
twelve islands in the iEgean Sea seized by Italy during its war with 
Turkey were clamoring to be annexed to Greece instead of being 
returned to Turkey by the treaty of peace between Italy and Turkey. 

Such were the conditions and events existing at the opening 
of the war. It developed with great rapidity, a number of important 
battles being fought, in which the Turks were defeated. The 
military strength of the combined states exceeded that of Turkey, 
and within a month's time they made rapid advances, the goals 
sought by them being Constantinople, Adrianople, Salonica and 
Scutari. 

THE ADVANCE ON ADRIANOPLE 

The most important of the Balkan movements was that of the 
Bulgarian army upon Adrianople, the second to Constantinople 
in importance of Turkish cities. By October 20th the Bulgarian 
main army had forced the Turks back upon the outward forts of 
this stronghold, while the left wing threatened the important post 
of Kirk-Kilisseh, in Thrace, about thirty miles northeast of Adrian- 
ople. This place, regarded as "the Key to Adrianople," was taken 
on the 24th, after a three days' fight, the Turkish forces, said to be 
150,000 strong, retiring in disorder. 

The Bulgarians continued their advance, fighting over a wide 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 383 

semicircular area before Adrianople, upon which city they gradually 
closed, taking some of the outer forts and making their bombard- 
ment felt within the city itself. 

SERVIAN AND GREEK VICTORIES 

While the Bulgarians were making such vigorous advances 
towards the capital of the Turkish empire, their allies were winning 
victories in other quarters. Novibazar, capital of the sanjak of 
the same name, was taken by the Servians on October 23d. Prish- 
tina and other towns and villages of Old Servia were also taken, 
the victors being received by the citizens with open arms of welcome 
and other demonstrations of joy. Tobacco and refreshments were 
pressed upon the soldiers, while the people put all their possessions 
at the disposal of the military authorities. 

The Greeks were also successful, an army under the Crown 
Prince capturing the town of Monastir, which was garrisoned by a 
Turkish force estimated at 40,000. The Montenegrin forces were 
at the same time besieging Scutari, the capture of which they re- 
garded as of high importance as a means of widening the area of 
their narrow kingdom. Other important towns of Old Servia were 
taken, including Kumanova, captured on the 25th, Uskab, captured 
on the 26th, and Istib, 45 miles to the southwest, occupied without 
opposition on the following day. This place, a very strong natural 
position in the mountains, was known as the Adrianople of Mace- 
donia. 

THE BULGARIAN SUCCESSES 

While these movements were taking place in the west, the siege 
of Adrianople was vigorously pushed. It was completely surrounded 
by Bulgarian troops by the 29th, and its commander formally 
summoned to surrender the city. The besiegers, however, had great 
difficulties to overcome, the country around being inundated by 
the rivers Maretza and Arda in consequence of heavy rains. These 
floods at the same time impeded the movements of the Turks. 



384 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

On October 31st, after another three-day fight, the Bulgarians 
achieved the great success of the war, defeating a Turkish army of 
200,000 men. Only a fortnight had passed since Turkey declared 
war. The first week of the campaign closed with the dramatic 
fall of Kirk-Kilesseh, fully revealing for the first time the disorgan- 
ization, bad morale and inefficient commissariat of the Turkish 
army. Ten days later that army was defeated and routed, within 
fifty miles from Constantinople, forcing it to retreat within the 
capital's line of defenses. 

Apparently Nazim Pasha had been completely outmaneuvered 
by Savoff's generalship. The Bulgarian turning movement along 
the Black Sea coast appears to have been a feint, which induced 
the Turkish commander to throw his main army to the eastward, 
to such effect that the Bulgarian force on this side had the greatest 
difficulty in holding the Turks in check. 

In fact, the Bulgarians gave way, and thus enabled Nazim 
Pasha to report to Constantinople some success in this direc- 
tion. In the meantime, however, General Savoff hurled his great 
strength against the Turks' weakened left wing, which he crushed 
in at Lule Burgas. The fighting along the whole front, which 
evidently was of the most stubborn and determined character, was 
carried on day and night without intermission, and both sides lost 
heavily. 

The final result was to force the Turks within the defensive 
lines of Tchatalja, the only remaining fortified position protecting 
Constantinople. These fines lie twenty-five miles to the northwest 
of the capital. 

The seat of war between Bulgaria and Turkey, aside from the 
continued siege of Adrianople, was by this success transferred to the 
Tchatalja lines, along which the opposing armies lay stretched 
during the week succeeding the Lule Burgas victory. Here siege 
operations were vigorously prosecuted, but the Turks, though weak- 
ened by an outbreak of cholera in their ranks, succeeded in main- 
taining their position. 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 385 

STEPS TOWARD PEACE 

Elsewhere victory followed the banners of the allies. On 
November 8th the important port of Salonica was taken by the 
Greeks, and on the 18th the Servians captured Monastir, the re- 
maining Turkish stronghold in Macedonia. The fighting here was 
desperate, lasting three days, the Turkish losses amounting to about 
20,000 men. In Albania the Montenegrin siege of Scutari con- 
tinued, though so far without success. 

Turkey had now enough of the war. On November 3d she had 
asked a mediation of the Powers, but these replied that she must 
treat directly with the Balkan nations. This caused delay until the 
end of the month, the protocol of an armistice being approved by 
the Turkish cabinet on November 30th, and signed by representa- 
tives of Turkey, Bulgaria, Servia and Montenegro on December 3d. 
Greece refused to sign, but at a later date agreed to take part in a 
conference to meet in London on December 16th. 

This peace conference continued in session until January 6, 
1913, without reaching any conclusions, Turkey refusing to accept 
the Balkan demands that she should yield practically the whole of 
her territory in Europe. At the final session of the conference she 
renounced her claim to the island of Crete, and promised to rectify 
her Thracian frontier, but insisted upon the retention of Adrianople. 
This place, the original capital of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, 
and containing the splendid mosque of Sultan Selim, was highly 
esteemed by the Mohammedans, who clung to it as a sacred city. 

War seemed likely to be resumed, though the European Powers 
strongly suggested to Turkey the advisability of yielding on this 
point, and leaving the question of the fate of the iEgean Islands to 
the Powers, which promised also to guard Mussulman interests 
in Adrianople. Finally, on January 22d, the Porte consented to 
this request of the Powers, a decision which was vigorously resented 
by the warlike party known as Young Turks. 

Demonstrations at once broke out in Constantinople, leading 
to the overthrow of the cabinet and the murder of Nazim Pasha, 

25 



386 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

former minister of war and commander-in-chief of the Turkish 
army. He was succeeded by Enver Bey, the most spirited leader 
of the Young Turks, who became chief of staff of the army. 

On January 30th the Balkan allies denounced their armistice 
and a renewed war seemed imminent. On the same day the Otto- 
man government offered a compromise, agreeing to divide Adrianople 
between the contestants in such a way that they might retain 
the mosques and the historic monuments. As for the iEgean Islands, 
they would leave these to the disposition of the Powers. 

THE WAR RESUMED 

To this compromise the Balkan allies refused to agree and on 
February 3d hostile operations were resumed. The investment 
of Adrianople had remained intact during the interval, and on the 
4th a vigorous bombardment took place, the Turkish response 
being weak. Forty Servian seven-inch guns had been mounted, 
their shells falling into the town, part of which again broke into 
flames. At points the lines of besiegers and besieged were only 
200 yards apart. An attempt was made also to capture the penin- 
sula of Gallipoli, which commands the Dardanelles, and thus take 
the Turkish force in the rear. Fifty thousand Bulgarians had been 
landed on this coast in November, and the Greek fleet in the Gulf 
of Saros supported the attack. If successful, there would be 
nothing to prevent this fleet from passing the straits, defeating 
the inferior Turkish war vessels and attacking Constantinople 
from the rear. Fighting in this region continued for several days, 
the Turkish forces being driven back, but still holding their forts. 

SIEGE OF SCUTARI 

In the west the most important operation at this period was 
that of the Montenegrins, led by King Nicholas in person, against 
Scutari, an Albanian stronghold which they were eager to possess. 
Servian artillery aided in the assault, and on February 8th the 
important outwork on Muselim Hill was taken by an impulsive 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 387 

bayonet charge. The city was not captured, however, until April 
23d, when an entire day's ceaseless fighting ended in the yielding of 
the garrison, the climax of a six-month siege. 

An energetic attack had been made by the Bulgarians and 
Serbs on Adrianople on March 14th, ending in a repulse, and on the 
22d another vigorous assault was begun, continuing with terrific 
fighting for four days. It ended in a surrender of the city on the 
26th. The siege had continued for 152 days. Before yielding 
the Turks blew up the arsenal and set fire to the city at several 
points. At the same time Tchatalja, which had been actively 
assailed, fell into the hands of the allies and Constantinople lay 
open to assault. 

Meanwhile the Powers of Europe had again offered their good 
services to mediate between the warring forces, and a conditional 
mediation was agreed to by the Balkan alhes. Movements towards 
peace, however, proceeded slowly, the most interesting event of 
the period being a demand by Austria, backed by Italy, that 
Montenegro should give up the city of Scutari. Earnest protests 
were made against this by King Nicholas, but the despatch of an 
Austrian naval division on April 27th to occupy his ports and 
march upon Cettinje, his capital, obliged him reluctantly to yield 
and on May 5th Scutari was given up to Austria, to form part of a 
projected Albanian kingdom. 

TREATY OF PEACE 

Peace between the warring nations was finally concluded on 
May 30, 1913, the treaty providing that Turkey should cede to her 
allied foes all territory west of a line drawn from Enos on the JEge&n 
coast to Media on the coast of the Black Sea. This left Adrianople 
in the hands of the Bulgarians and gave Turkey only a narrow strip 
of territory west of Constantinople, the meager remnant of her once 
great holdings upon the continent of Europe. The victors desired 
to divide the conquered territory upon a plan arranged between 
them before the war, but the purposes of Austria and Italy were 



388 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

out of agreement with this design and the Powers insisted in forming 
out of the districts assigned to Servia and Greece a new principality 
to be named Albania, embracing the region occupied by the 
unruly Albanian tribes. 

This plan gave intense dissatisfaction to the allies. It seemed 
designed to cut off Servia from an opening upon the Mediterranean, 
which that inland state ardently desired and Austria strongly 
opposed. Montenegro was also deprived of the warmly craved 
city of Scutari, which she had won after so vigorous a strife. Bul- 
garia also was dissatisfied with this new project and opposed the 
demands of Servia and Greece for compensation in land for the loss 
of Albania or for their support of the Bulgarian operations. 

WAR BETWEEN THE ALLIES 

Thus the result of this creation of a new and needless state 
out of the conquered territory by the peace-making Powers roused 
hostilities among the allies which speedily flung them into a new war. 
Bulgaria refused to yield any of the territory held by it to the Ser- 
vians and Greeks, and Greece in consequence made a secret league 
with Servia against Bulgaria. 

It was the old story of a fight over the division of the spoils. 
It is doubtful which of the contestants began hostile operations, 
but Bulgaria lost no time in marching upon Salonica, held by 
Greece, and in attacking the Greek and Servian outposts in Mace- 
donia. The plans of General Savoff, who had led the Bulgarians 
to victory in the late war and who commanded in this new outbreak, 
in some way fell into the hands of the Greeks and gave them an 
important advantage. They at once, in junction with the Servians, 
attacked the Bulgarians and drove them back. From the accounts 
of the war, probably exaggerated, this struggle was accompanied 
by revolting barbarities upon the inhabitants of the country invaded, 
each country accusing the other of shameful indignities. 

What would have been the result of the war, if fought out 
between the original contestants, it is impossible to say, for at 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 389 

this juncture a new Balkan State, which had taken no part in the 
Turkish war, came into the field. This was Roumania, lying north 
of Bulgaria and removed from any contact with Turkey. It had 
had a quarrel with Bulgaria, dating back to 1878, concerning certain 
territory to which it laid claim. This was a strip of land on the 
south side of the Danube near its mouth and containing Silistria 
and some other cities. 

THE FINAL SETTLEMENT 

King Charles of Roumania now took the opportunity to demand 
this territory, and when his demand was refused by Ferdinand of 
Bulgaria he marched an army across the Danube and took the 
Bulgarians, exhausted by their recent struggle, in the rear. No 
battles were fought. The Roumanian army advanced until within 
thirty miles of Sofia, the Bulgarian capital, and Ferdinand was 
obliged to appeal for peace, and in the subsequent treaty yielded 
to Roumania the tract desired, which served to round out its 
frontier on the Black Sea. 

Another unexpected event took place. While her late foes 
were struggling in a war of their own, Turkey quietly stepped into 
the arena, and on July 20th retook possession, without opposition, 
of Adrianople, Bulgaria's great prize in the late war. 

A peace conference was held at Bukarest, capital of Roumania, 
beginning July 30th, and framing a treaty, signed on August 10th. 
This provided for the evacuation of Bulgaria by the invading 
armies, and also for a division of the conquered territory. 
Bulgaria gained the largest amount of territory, though less than 
she had claimed. Greece retained the important seaport of Salonica, 
the possession of which had been hotly disputed, and gained the 
largest sea front. Montenegro, though deprived of the much- 
coveted Scutari, was assigned part of northern Albania and the 
Turkish sanjak of Novibazar, adjoining on the east, considerably 
increasing her diminutive territory. 

Servia had most reason to be dissatisfied with the result, in 



390 TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

view of her craving for an opening to the sea. Cut off by Albania 
on the west, it sought an opening on the south, demanding the city 
of Kavala, on the vEgean Sea. But to this Greece strongly objected, 
as that city, one of the great tobacco marts of the world, was 
inhabited almost wholly by Greeks. Servia, however, extended 
southward far over its old territory, gaining Uskub, its old capital. 
And the Powers also agreed that it should have commercial rights 
on the Mediterranean, through railroad connection with Salonica. 

As regards Turkey's shrewd advantage of the opportunity to 
retake Adrianople, it proved a successful move. The Russian press 
strongly advocated that the Turks should be ejected, but the 
jealousy of the Powers prevented any agreement as to who should 
do this and in the end the Turks remained, with a considerable 
widening of the tract of land before assigned to them. 

In these wars it is estimated that 358,000 persons died, and that 
the cost of the two wars, to the several nations involved, reached 
a total of $1,200,000,000. Its general result was almost to complete 
the work of expelling the Turks from Europe, the territory lost by 
them being divided up between the several Balkan nations. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
Methods in Modern Warfare 

Ancient and Modern Weapons — New Types of Weapons — The Ironclad Warship — 

The Balloon in War — Tennyson's Foresight — Gunning for Airships — The Submarine 

— Under-water Warfare — The New Type of Battleship — Mobilization — The Waste of 

War — The End of Autocracy. 

ONE hundred years ago the Battle of Waterloo had just been 
fought and Napoleon's star had set never to rise again. 
For years he had swept Europe with his armies, rending 
the nations into fragments, and winning world-famous victories 
with weapons that no one would look for today except in a mili- 
tary museum, weapons antiquated beyond all possible utility on a 
modern field of battle. 

ANCIENT AND MODERN WEAPONS 

Every fresh modern war has been fought with new weapons, 
and during the past century there have been countless inventions 
for the carrying on of warfare in a more destructive manner, 
apparently on the philanthropic theory that war should be made 
so terrible that it must quickly pass away. 

But it has happened that as soon as a particularly horrible 
contrivance was invented and introduced into armies and navies, 
other inventors immediately set themselves to offset and discount its 
probable effect. Consequently war not only has not passed away, 
but we have it with us in more frightful form than ever before. 
Thus it is that each big war, after being heralded as the world's 
last conflagration, has proved but the herald of another war, bigger 
and more death-dealing still. 

Since the Civil War in the United States, in which probably 
more new features in modes of fighting were introduced than in 

(391) 



392 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 

any conflict that had preceded it, there have been immense improve- 
ments in arms, in armament and in the general efficiency of both 
armies and navies. It was the Civil War that brought into being 
the turreted Monitor, one of the greatest contributions to naval 
architecture the navies of . the world have ever known. While the 
turrets on the modern battleship are very different in design, in 
armor and in arrangement from those on the old monitors, they 
are nothing more than an adaption of the original devices. 

The same is the case with the small arms and the field guns of 
the modern armies, these having been greatly improved since the 
period of the Civil War. The breech-loading and even the magazine 
rifle are now in use in every army, while the smallest field piece of 
today is vastly more efficient than the most powerful gun in use fifty 
years ago. 

The first attempt to use a torpedo boat dates back to the 
Civil War. A primitive contrivance it was, but it showed a possi- 
bility in naval warfare which speedily led to the general building of 
torpedo boats, and to the invention of the highly efficient White- 
head torpedo. 

THE IRONCLAD WAESHIP 

Another lesson in warfare was taught when the ironclad 
Merrimac and Monitor met and fought for mastery in Hampton 
Roads. The ironclad vessel was not then a new idea in naval 
architecture, but its efficiency as a fighting machine was then first 
demonstrated. Iron for armor soon gave way to thick and tough 
steel, while each improvement in armor led to a corresponding 
improvement in guns and projectiles, until now a battle at sea has 
grown to be a remarkably different affair from the great ocean 
combats of Nelson's time. 

But development in the art of war has not ceased with the 
improvement in older types of weapons. New devices, scarcely 
thought of in former wars, have been introduced. These include 
the use of the balloon and aeroplane as scouting devices, of the 



METHODS IN "MODERN WARFARE 393 

bomb filled with explosives of frightful rending power, and of the 
submarine naval shark, designed to attack the mighty battleships 
from under water. 

THE BALLOON IN WAR 

Of recent years the balloon has been developed into the dirigible, 
the flying machine that can be steered and directed. Made effec- 
tive by Count Zeppelin and others, its possibilities as an aid in 
war were quickly perceived. Then came the notable invention of 
the Wright Brothers, and after 1904 the aeroplane quickly ex- 
panded into an effective aerial instrument, the probable service- 
ableness of which in war was evident to all. Here we are tempted 
to stop and quote the remarkable prediction from Tennyson's 
"Locksley Hall," the truth of which is now being so strikingly 
verified : 

"For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, 
Saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be; 
Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, 
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales; 
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew 
From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; 
Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm, 
With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunder storm; 
Till the war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled 
In the parliament of man, the federation of the world." 

GUNNING FOR AIRSHIPS 

The airship does not float safely in the central blue, aside from 
attacks by flying foes. Guns pointing upward have been devised 
to attack the daring aviator from the ground and flying machines 
can thus be swiftly brought down, like war eagles shot in the 
sky. Several types of guns for this purpose are in use, som^ to be 
employed on warships or fortifications, others, mounted on auto- 
mobile trucks, for use in the field. 

The Ehrhardt gun, a German weapon, which is designed to be 
mounted on an auto-truck, weighs nearly 1700 pounds. The car 



394 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 

carries 140 rounds of ammunition and the whole equipment in 
service condition weighs more than six tons. The gun has an 
extreme range at 45 degrees elevation of 12,029 yards, or more than 
six miles. The sights are telescopic, a moving object can be followed 
with ease, and the gun is capable of being fired very rapidly. The 
British are provided with the Vickers gun, which is mainly intended 
for naval use, but the military arm is also provided with anti- 
balloon guns, which have great range and can throw a three-pound 
shell at any high angle. Some of these guns use incendiary shells, 
intended to ignite the gas in dirigibles. There is another type that 
explodes shrapnel. In addition to these, rifle fire is apt to be effec- 
tive, in case of airships coming within its range. 

Jules Vedrines, a well-known French aviator, tells this story 
of his experience while doing scout duty for the French army: 

"Those German gunners surely have tried their best to get 
me," he wrote. "Each night when I come back to headquarters 
my machine looks more and more like a sieve because of the 
numerous bullet holes in the wings. 

"I have been keeping tab on the number of new bullet holes 
in my machine each day, marking each with red chalk, so that I 
won't include any of the old ones in the next day's count. My best 
record so far for one day is thirty-seven holes. That shows how 
close the enemy has come to hitting me. My duties as scout 
require me to cover various distances each day. The best record 
so far in one day is 600 miles." 

THE SUBMARINE^ 

The submarine is another type of war apparatus, one the utility 
of which remains to be demonstrated. It is of recent origin. At 
the time of the Spanish-American War there were only five sub- 
marines in all the navies of the world, and of this number three were 
in the French navy, one in Italy and one in Portugal. The United 
States was building its first one, and had not decided what type to 
select. At the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War Great Britain 



METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 395 

had nine of the American (Holland) type of submarines and was 
building twenty more, while France had accumulated thirty-six 
of various types and of various grades of reported efficiency, while 
Germany had none. In 1914 there were nearly four hundred 
vessels of this type in the world's navies, France standing first with 
173. 

It was believed that the moral effect of the submarine would 
be almost as important as its physical effect in dealing with an 
enemy's warship, but this idea has not been justified. Some persons 
maintained that fights of submarines with each other might take 
place, each, like the Kilkenny cats, devouring the other. But the 
fact is that when submerged the submarine is as blind as the tradi- 
tional bat. Its crew cannot see any object under water, and is 
compelled to resort to the use of the periscope, which emerges 
unostentatiously above the water, in order to see its own course. 

It is known that the periscope is the eye of the submarine, 
and naturally attention has been paid to the best way of destroying 
this vital part of such boats. Recently, grappling irons have been 
devised for use from dirigibles, which are expected to drag out 
the periscope as the dirigible flies above it. Careful plans for 
torpedoing submarines also have been made, but their effectiveness 
likewise remains to be demonstrated. 

Submarine builders have naturally held the view that the 
submerged boat could not be seen. But it has been discovered that 
from a certain height an observer may trace the course of a sub- 
merged submarine with as great accuracy as if it were running on the 
surface. It is found that the submerged boat can readily be seen 
from the dirigible and the aeroplane. On the other hand an anti- 
balloon gun has been devised which can be raised from the submarine 
when it comes to the surface, and used against the hostile airship. 

UNDER-WATER WARFARE 

The submarine is supposed to have its most important field 
of operation against a fleet of battleships and cruisers besieging 



396 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 

a seaport city. These great war craft, covered above the water- 
line with thick steel armor, are vulnerable below, and a torpedo 
discharged from a torpedo boat or an explosive bomb attached to 
the lower hull by a submarine may send the largest and mightiest 
ship to the bottom, stung to death from below. 

With this idea in view torpedo boats, destroyers — designed to 
attack torpedo boats — and submarines have been multiplied in 
modern navies. Though as yet little harm has been done by this 
type of vessels, their possibilities are enormous and their latent 
power renders the bombardment from sea of town or fort a far more 
perilous operation than of old. Fired at by the great guns of the 
fort capable of effective work at eight or ten miles distance, exposed 
to explosive bombs dropped from soaring airships, made a target 
for the deadly weapon of the torpedo boat, and in constant risk of 
being stung by the submarine wasp, these great war ships, built at a 
cost of ten or more millions and peopled by hundreds of mariners, 
are in constant danger of being sent to the bottom with all on board 
— a contingency likely to shake the nerves of the steadiest Jack Tar 
or admiral on board. 

A typical submarine has a length of about 150 feet and diameter 
of 15 feet, with a speed of eleven knots on the surface and five knots 
when submerged. Some of the more recent have a radius of naviga- 
tion of 4,500 miles without need of a new supply of stores and fuel. 
On the surface they are propelled by gasoline engines, but when 
submerged they use electric motors driven by storage batteries. 
If the weather should grow too rough they can sink below the waves. 

THE NEW TYPE OF BATTLESHIP 

While the peril of the big ship has thus been increased, the size 
and fighting capacity of those ships have steadily grown — and at 
the same time their cost, which is becoming almost prohibitive. 
Taking the British navy, the leader in this field, the size of battle- 
ships was yearly augmented until in 1907 the famous Dread- 
naught appeared, looked upon at the time as the last word in naval 



METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 397 

architecture. This great ship was of 17,900 tons displacement and 
23,000 horse-power, its armor belt eleven inches thick, its major 
armament composed of ten twelve-inch guns. There are now twenty 
British battleships of larger size, some much larger. 

On shore a similar increase may be seen in the size and effec- 
tiveness of armies and the strength of fortifications. In all the 
larger nations of Europe except Great Britain the whole able-bodied 
male population are now obliged to spend several years in the army, 
and to be ready at a moment's notice to drop all the avocations of 
peace and march to the front, ready to risk their lives in their 
country's service or at the command of the autocrat under whom 
they live. 

MOBILIZATION 

Mobilization is a word with strenuous significance. When 
it is put into effect every able-bodied man must report without 
delay for service. His name is on the army lists; if he fails to 
report he is branded as a deserter. In Germany, the order to 
mobilize is issued by the Emperor and is immediately sent out by all 
military and civil authorities, at home or abroad. Every person 
knows at once what he is required to do. Skeleton regiments 
are filled out and additional regiments formed. Simultaneously 
there is a levy of horses. The order reaches into every household; 
into the factories, the shipyards, the hotels, the farms, river boats, 
everywhere. Almost instantly the male individuals within the 
prescribed ages must at once report to the barracks to come under 
military discipline. Infantry, cavalry and artillery units double 
and triple at once. 

This is the first step in mobilization. The second is the trans- 
portation and concentration of forces. The railways are seized, 
the telegraph and telephone systems. Mail, military, aerial and 
railway services are assigned. The commissary lines are laid and 
transportation provided for. With marvelous efficiency the full 
fighting strength, in front and rear, is made ready and co-ordinated. 



398 METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 

The psychological effect of mobilization is tremendous. In 
every household home-ties are broken. The fields are stripped of 
men. Industry stops. Artillery rolls through the streets, bands 
play. An atmosphere of apprehension settles down on the country. 

THE WASTE OF WAR 

And the waste of it all; the criminal, unbelievable waste! 
Consider the vast loss of products that is due, not only to actual 
war, but to unceasing and universal preparation for war. 

It has been stated on the highest authority that during the last 
decade forty per cent of the total outlay of European states has been 
absorbed by the armies and navies which, when war arises, seek in 
every way to destroy as much as they can of the remainder. Com- 
menting on this state of affairs, Count Sergius Witte, the ablest 
of Russian statesmen and financiers, said in London not long ago: 

" Sketch a picture in your mind's eye of all that those sums, if 
properly spent, could effect for the nations who now waste them on 
heavy guns, rifles, dreadnaughts, fortresses and barracks. If this 
money were laid out on improving the material lot of the people, 
in housing them hygienically, in procuring for them healthier air, 
medical aid and needful periodical rest, they would live longer and 
work to better purpose, and enjoy some of the happiness or content- 
ment which at present is the prerogative of the few. 

" Again, all the best brain work of the most eminent men is 
focused on efforts to create new lethal weapons, or to make the old 
ones more deadly. For one of the arts in which cultured nations 
have made most progress is warfare. The noblest efforts of the 
greatest thinkers are wasted on inventions to destroy human life. 

"When I call to mind the gold and the work thus dissipated in 
smoke and sound and compare that picture with this other — villagers 
with drawn, sallow faces, men and women and dimly conscious 
children perishing slowly and painfully of hunger — I begin to ask 
myself whether human culture and the white man who personifies 
it are not wending toward the abyss." 



METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 399 

In "War and Waste" Dr. David Starr Jordan quotes the table 
of Richet to show the cost of a general European war. 

">er day the French statistician figures the war's cost thus: 

Feed of men $12,600,000 

Feed of horses 1,000,000 

Pay (European rates) 4,250,000 

Pay of workmen in arsenals and ports 1,000,000 

Transportation (sixty miles, ten days) 2,100,000 

Transportation of provisions 4,200,000 

Munitions — 

Infantry, ten cartridges a day 4,200,000 

Artillery, ten shots per day 1,200,000 

Marine, two shots per day 400,000 

Equipment 4,200,000 

Ambulances: 500,000 wounded or ill ($1 per day) 500,000 

Armature 500,000 

Reduction of imports 5,000,000 

Help to the poor (20 cents per day to one in ten) 6,800,000 

Destruction of towns, etc 2,000,000 

Total per day. $49,950,000 

How many Panama Canals could be built for the cost of a 
single month of such a war? What would a few months of such 
a conflict do to mitigate the woes of mankind? 

THE END OF AUTOCRACY 

Oscar S. Straus, whom the thousands of Americans stranded 
in London in 1914 called "The unofficial American Ambassador," 
sent the following message to the American people : 

"What has happened is less important than the final outcome 
of it all. In my opinion the great blessing that will result from this 
titanic world clash will be the obliteration of every monarchy in 
Europe. 

"The reason for this is that the war has not only been not 
projected by the will of the people but against their will, and the 
aggressions come from the ambition of the ruling classes, if not the 
rulers themselves. I do not believe there are any men living who 
can foresee what this clash of arms between the leading nations of 



464* METHODS IN MODERN WARFARE 

Europe may lead to, but in the loss of human life, in suffering, in 
destruction of property, and in economic derangement, it must 
dwarf into insignificance the cost of the Napoleonic Wars." 

Straus is far from being alone in this view. We quote the 
following editorial utterance: 

"Despite the fact that the ambitions of the people and the 
dynasties are in accord, the effect of the war upon monarchical 
institutions will be momentous. The spirit of democracy is abroad. 
It has practically abolished the British House of Lords. It has 
forced the establishment of a parliament in Russia. It is so active 
and alert in Germany that the Social Democratic party is the 
largest and most powerful political organization in the empire. 
In France it overturned the monarchy nearly half a century ago, 
and is now so firmly established that only the wildest dreamers ever 
imagine that republican institutions can be displaced. It is regnant 
in Portugal and nearly so in Spain. 

" A nation in arms, as Germany now is, will not long be content 
to remain a nation without a ministry responsible to its Parliament. 
The democratization of German institutions is inevitable after the 
war, whatever the result. The people, even in Russia, are no longer 
driven serfs. They think, they reason, and a demonstration of the 
power of 5,000,000 men on the battle-field will not be lost on the 
patriots who wish also to demonstrate the power of the same number 
of millions in deciding at first hand the causes for which they will 
take up arms. Whether the kings and the emperors remain on their 
thrones matters little. Great Britain, though it retains the fiction 
of a monarchy, is as democratic as the United States, and its 
Parliament responds with greater precision to popular sentiment 
than the American Congress. The war means the end of autocracy 
whether the kings remain or not." 



* There are 64 pages of illustrations in this book, which, added to the 400 pages 
of text, make a total of 464. 



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